Earlier this month, European antitrust regulators voiced their concerns to Microsoft over its $26.2 billion of professional networking platform LinkedIn, which it announced in June. The European Commission said last week that Microsoft had responded to those concerns by proposing "concessions", the first details of which have now emerged.
A deal as large as this one requires approval from regulators, who must assess its potential impact upon rivals and the wider market, but the EU has not yet ruled on the LinkedIn acquisition.
According to Reuters, Microsoft is hoping to gain that approval by assuring the European Commission of the following:
- Microsoft will continue to provide rivals with access to key APIs after the acquisition, ensuring that functionality currently available to those companies will not be removed
- Device manufacturers will be able to pre-install LinkedIn on their devices, rather than restricting LinkedIn availability to Microsoft"s own devices
- Manufacturers will also be free to pre-install rival professional/social networking apps on their devices
The proposed concessions are an attempt to demonstrate that Microsoft won"t use the acquisition to try to stifle competition, or to "punish" partners who choose to favor rival networks over its own offering.
Microsoft"s competitors have until today to provide feedback, or to raise any objections, regarding the acquisition. Salesforce is among those to have already done so, calling for a full investigation into the deal in October. The European Commission is expected to deliver its ruling on or before December 6.
Source: Reuters