Engagements

Microsoft acquisition of LinkedIn

Back view of business woman sitting at panoramic skyscraper office desktop front PC computer with financial graphs and statistics on monitor.Analysis of digital market and investment in block chain

For Microsoft, CRA economists advised on the $26 billion acquisition of LinkedIn in Europe and the US. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cleared the transaction and the EC cleared the deal subject to conditions to address potential concerns in “professional social networking” (PSN). Our analysis considered the parties’ ability and incentive to foreclose third-party suppliers of CRM solutions by restricting the availability of LinkedIn’s (sales intelligence) products, or tying/bundling them with Microsoft’s productivity assets.