That said, getting a deal done remains a very human (and therefore entertaining) process. Models are built, due diligence is performed, and fairness opinions are presented to the board. M&A transactions can get complicated, with no shortage of legal, tax and accounting issues to sort out. M&A Case Study: Microsoft-LinkedIn Acquisition Timeline Professor Mike Wade is Director of the Center for Digital Business Transformation, an IMD and Cisco initiative.Breakup Fees and Reverse Termination Fees in M&A Microsoft could build on this core strength and adapt it to its other enterprise assets, such as Office 365. 60% of LinkedIn’s traffic originates from a mobile device. Imagine the potent combination of Microsoft Dynamics and LinkedIn Sales Navigator? This acquisition is a direct challenge to the CRM market leader, Salesforce.įifth, LinkedIn is strong on mobile, where Microsoft continues to be weak, despite multiple attempts to grow. This acquisition will give it some social media street credit.įourth, LinkedIn is well aligned with Microsoft’s Dynamics Cloud business. Its purchase of Yammer has not quite gone far enough. Microsoft has been talking about building its social presence for some time. It makes little sense for Microsoft to invest in a consumer social media site like Snapchat when its core focus is on the enterprise space.
Third, it strengthens Microsoft’s position in the enterprise market segment. That’s a big weight on its balance sheet and the pressure to spend it or issue a special dividend, as it has done in the past, was mounting. Second, Microsoft was sitting on more than $100 Billion in cash and short-term investments. Microsoft will hopefully be able to better leverage LinkedIn’s impressive 400 million members. These criticisms are justified. LinkedIn has only recently woken up to leverage its massive network and move beyond being just a job search site. The markets have been hammering LinkedIn for not maintaining growth numbers in users and revenues. Even paying a 48% mark-up on the current stock price, Microsoft is still buying LinkedIn at less than its value on January 1 st, 2016. Here are the top reasons why the acquisition makes sense for Microsoft.įirst, LinkedIn is undervalued. 26.2 billion! That seems like a big ticket price, but Microsoft is getting a good deal.
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