Microsoft and LinkedIn complete acquisition, begin prioritizing integrated scenarios

Microsoft announced that it has completed its acquisition of LinkedIn, a process which started in June 2016 and concludes shortly after the European Commission gave it the green light on Tuesday.

The $26.2 billion deal faced scrutiny over whether the nature of the merger created anti-competitive conditions. In the areas of CRM, professional social networks, and online advertising, the Commission determined that other parties would still be able to compete with Microsoft. And it concluded that concerns over access to LinkedIn's social graph and user data don't measure up since, in their words, such access is "not essential to compete on the market."

LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner wrote today that he sees the deal as advancing his company's goal of connecting the world's professionals "and ultimately help create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce." In working with Microsoft since the deal was announced, Weiner said LinkedIn has been studying Microsoft's progress in areas including artificial intelligence, machine learning, the cloud, and devices.

Details on how Microsoft and LinkedIn will integrate products will start to roll out in the coming months. Weiner and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella each listed the same eight examples of where LinkedIn would begin to tie in, including the connection of LinkedIn Sales Navigator with Dynamics 365, notifications in Windows, and connecting the LinkedIn network via Office and Outlook.

One of the potential synergies not listed but sometimes noted in ...