$26 billion Microsoft-LinkedIn deal cleared

The tech giant has obtained all of the regulatory approvals needed to complete the acquisition. “As part of our discussions with the EU, we formalised several commitments regarding Microsoft’s support for third-party professional social networking services,” said Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft, in a blog post. 

The approval in Brussels follows similar reviews and clearances in the US, Canada, Brazil and South Africa. “We’ll continue to make our Office Add-in programme available to third-party professional social networking services. The Office Add-in program enables developers to integrate their services into MS Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel, providing users an enhanced experience,” Smith wrote. 

“We’ll continue to make promotional opportunities in the Office Store available to third-party professional social networking services,” he added. 

In June this year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner announced their shared vision for bringing together the world’s leading professional cloud with the world’s leading professional network.