Microsoft completes LinkedIn acquisition

Microsoft has completed the acquisition of the business social network LinkedIn. The Redmond software company will, among other things, place notifications from LinkedIn in Windows 10 and the LinkedIn network of users will be accessible via Outlook.

LinkedIn’s notifications come in the Windows Action Center, the operating system’s notification bar, says Microsoft director Satya Nadella on LinkedIn. Nadella is announcing more integrations, such as LinkedIn Sponsored Content that will come into Microsoft products and LinkedIn Lookup that will work in Active Directory and Office 365.

The integrations are some of the visible consequences of the $26 billion acquisition, equivalent to approximately EUR 24.4 billion. The European Commission gave the green light this week for the acquisition, which both companies announced six months ago.

The acquisition is the largest in Microsoft’s history. Before that, it was Skype, which Microsoft paid $8.5 billion for. The site for mainly business use now has 433 million users, of which two million are paying. Microsoft currently pays almost 54 euros per member.