Report claims EU is expected to clear the deal soon

Nov 25, 2016 05:36 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft announced earlier this year that it agreed to purchase professional social network LinkedIn for no less than $26.2 billion, but the company hit some roadblocks in Europe, where rivals complained that this acquisition could violate competition laws.

After working closely with EU’s antitrust watchdog, Microsoft is very likely to get the go-ahead in Europe as well, after the United States, Canada, Brazil, and South Africa already approved the deal.

A report by Reuters and citing people with knowledge of the matter reveals that Microsoft has agreed to concessions which would address worries that Microsoft could block access to LinkedIn data for its rivals.

One of the concessions states that Microsoft will continue to “give hardware makers the option of installing competing procession social networks on computers after the acquisition,” the report says.

A decision on Microsoft’s LinkedIn takeover is expected to be announced by the EU by December 6, and there are big chances that Redmond receives the go-ahead in this deal.

The Salesforce complaint

One of the companies that complained about Microsoft’s LinkedIn takeover was Salesforce, which is also a party that was involved in the negotiations, but lost the bidding war to the software giant.

Burke Norton, Salesforce’s chief legal officer, warned that “Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of LinkedIn threatens the future of innovation and competition,” calling for the European Union to closely investigate the takeover because it might violate competition laws.

On the other hand, Microsoft guarantees that competition won’t be affected in any way, and not only that it has offered concessions but it also explained that little is going to change for LinkedIn when it comes to its collaboration with company rivals.

“We’re committed to continuing to work to bring price competition to a CRM market in which Salesforce is the dominant participant charging customers higher prices today,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s chief legal officer, said.

Microsoft is yet to comment on these rumors, and this is clearly no surprise, as the company is awaiting an official statement from the European Union.