MICROSOFT TO ACQUIRE LINKEDIN FAMOUS PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL PLATFORM
US software giant Microsoft, led by Indian CEO Satya Nadella, on Monday announced a $26.2-billion, all-cash deal to acquire professional social platform LinkedIn for $196 per share, a premium of 49.5% to its Friday closing price. The biggest-ever deal by Microsoft will combine the software giant’s fast-growing cloud services business with an online network of 433 million professionals. The deal is expected to close by 2016-end.