Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will buy LinkedIn, the social network operator to search for business contacts, for $ 26.2 billion, which would be the biggest deal for the technology giant. Combining the widely used software programs, such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, with LinkedIn network can allow Microsoft to add a number of services to the core business of the company and products in the future to compete with the producers of the cloud software, such as Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Inc.
"LinkedIn and Microsoft really have common mission" to help people work more efficiently, said the head of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, during the conference call. "There is no better opportunity to fulfill this mission than joining the world's professionals."
The transaction value is $ 196 per share, which is almost 50 % more than the market value of LinkedIn shares as of Friday. Analysts show cautious optimism, believing that the deal could be one of the relatively few successful mergers.
For LinkedIn, founded in 2002, the deal will be the final stage of development of the classic start-ups: funding at the expense of the leading venture capital investors, the long period of company formation and development of the revenue base, a large initial public offering, the sharp fluctuation of the value of shares, and, finally, the acquisition.
The LinkedIn purchase for Microsoft is a possibility to interrupt a series of failed transactions, including the acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone maker in 2014 for $ 9.4 billion and advertising company aQuantive for $ 6.3 billion in 2007.
The new deal could help Microsoft to show its strengths in analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, Nadella said during a call with investors. LinkedIn and Microsoft hold a huge amount of customer data, which can be used for the development of automated offers and other features that make the business processes easier and faster.
The CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner, will remain in the company, which will operate as a separate unit under the same name.