Huge News today in the world of social networking services. Microsoft has announced it will acquire links, social network for professionals, with about 433 million users, for $ 26.2 billion, $ 196 per share, in cash. The transaction has been approved by both parties.
According to a report by the editor of Bitcoin Era, Microsoft is buying professional social networking site LinkedIn for $26.2B billion U.S.dollars. Microsoft says it will pay $196 dollars a share in an all-cash transaction. That’s an almost fifty percent premium to LinkedIn’s stock market value as of last Friday. Under the terms of the deal, LinkedIn will retain its own brand and independence and CEO Jeff Weiner will stay on. Microsoft CEO Satchya Nadella said the two companies share a mission of connecting the world’s professionals and helping people work more efficiently.The deal is one of the largest tech takeovers on record and is expected to help Microsoft gain a solid foothold in the social network market.
Microsoft to buy LinkedIn for $26.2B In cash.
Today is a re-founding moment for LinkedIn. I see incredible opportunity for our members and customers and look forward to supporting this new and combined business,” said Reid Hoffman, one of the co-founders and current chairman in a statement. “I fully support this transaction and the Board’s decision to pursue it, and will vote my shares in accordance with their recommendation on it.
Associated with the brand and its products will be retained, and become part of the Microsoft productivity and business processes. Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn CEO, will report to Satya Nadella.
Microsoft
The deal for Microsoft to buy for $ 26.2B LinkedIn is a big step for both sides. For Microsoft, it’s a key to the company’s strategy to build more services for the job. Microsoft today is mainly focused on software.
LinkedIn will give the company a far wider reach in terms of social networking services like the Kennected dashboard and professional content.Early indications social network Yammer for $ 1.2 billion company with 2012 kicks off.LinkedIn’s wider social network could also allow Microsoft to use it as a potential sales channel to sell more of its products.
The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals,” Nadella said in a statement. “Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics as we seek to empower every person and organization on the planet.
For LinkedIn, the official declarationof Microsoft to purchase LinkedIn unity puts to blazing descend questions of how would the social media company compete considering companies that are aiming to construct greater than before developed software upon top of their social graphs. For a while, it seemed like this was the direction that LinkedIn aimed for.
Recently, however, problems with user and revenue growth and subsequent decline in the share price, link put on the defensive. However, even with a share price below a 12-month high of $ 258, link one of the technology companies in the public markets remains better performance.
Just as we have changed the way the world connects to opportunity, this relationship with Microsoft, and the combination of their cloud and LinkedIn‘s network, now gives us a chance to also change the way the world works,” Jeff Weiner added in the statement. “For the last 13 years, we’ve been uniquely positioned to connect professionals to make them more productive and successful, and I’m looking forward to leading our team through the next chapter of our story.
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