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Microsoft has officially closed the deal of acquiring LinkedIn for $26 billion.
The talks have been going around for months now but nothing was made official until yesterday when the European Union gave its approval for the acquisition. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said,
“Today, I’m pleased to share that we’ve officially closed Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn. This is a major milestone for the company, one that we believe will accelerate how we connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”
Microsoft formalized several commitments in talks with the European Union which state that Microsoft will make its online Office Add-in program available to the third party. Also, any promotional activities in Office Store will be made available to LinkedIn. Members will be able to edit their resumes in Word to update their LinkedIn profile. Window 10 users will be able to use LinkedIn application and get notifications on their PCs. CEO Microsoft Satya Nadella said,
“Today I am even more enthusiastic about the common mission and sense of purpose we share, the similarities in our cultures, and the added value we can create for LinkedIn members, to help professionals transform how they work, realize new career opportunities and connect in new ways.”
As far as users are concerned, nothing much will change on LinkedIn. Rather, they will be able to enjoy Microsoft Office features on LinkedIn. In words of Jeff, “We’re going to focus on how we leverage Microsoft’s impressive scale and innovation to create more value for all of you.”
LinkedIn is a business and employee oriented social networking site with millions of active users. LinkedIn enjoys a dominant market position. Microsoft, on the other hand, has not been very successful with its acquisitions like in the case of Nokia.
Satya added that together they’ll work on digital technology and develop people’s skills online, find new jobs and connect with colleagues. The collaboration will also contribute to the economic growth.
