Microsoft and LinkedIn officially sealed the deal Wednesday morning, closing its $26.2 billion acquisition. The official status comes almost 6 months after news first broke of the acquisition.
Earlier this week, the European Commission announced that it has approved the acquisition.
Though the original announcement triggered a wave of speculation about why the purchase was made (more here), Microsoft has remained mum about its intentions with LinkedIn. Many have predicted enhanced upselling to its LinkedIn Recruiter users. Other media outlets have suggested LinkedIn’s data can help advance Microsoft Dynamics and Office 365.
Jeff Weiner today in a blog post shared “more about integrating products, especially in areas where (LinkedIn) can leverage Microsoft’s scale.”
LinkedIn also created a bit of buzz and controversy this week by removing its search filters with its Premium Product.
Rumors have also been percolating of a potential new website redesign that could arrive in the United States as early as next week. A preview of the newly design website shows vast similarities to the mobile version and mobile application of its product. Users can expect new messaging features, which are designed to be competitive with Slack and Facebook Messenger.
Missing from the mobile application and mobile version of LinkedIn are its groups. LinkedIn removed its cap on the number of groups a member can join. In the past, LinkedIn limited its users to a maximum of 50 groups. Group interest and activity has declined on LinkedIn, which has many speculating that this feature could be retired in the near future.
