EU approves Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn, deal will close in the coming days as it has now received all the regulatory approvals needed
It was roughly six months ago, on June 13, that we announced that Microsoft would acquire LinkedIn. At that time, we said that we aimed to close the deal by the end of the year.
Context & Ripple Effects
The EU sign-off ends a review that Microsoft had been working to satisfy since announcing the $26.2B acquisition in June, when it committed to closing by year-end. The decisive move came in late November, when Microsoft reportedly offered to let rivals access Outlook add-ins in order to win EU approval of the deal.
With all regulatory approvals now in hand, the acquisition closes within days — and Microsoft has already sketched the integration scenarios it will pursue, from LinkedIn identity in Office to notifications inside Windows.
First-order effects
- LinkedIn becomes a Microsoft subsidiary with Jeff Weiner remaining CEO and reporting directly to Satya Nadella, per the terms set at announcement.
- Microsoft can begin executing the integration scenarios named in its close-out coverage — LinkedIn identity in Office and notifications within Windows — without further regulatory holdups.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft's concession on Outlook add-in access sets a precedent for how competitors and third-party developers interact with Office, opening a channel that existed only because the deal needed EU clearance.
- Rival professional networks and productivity suites now face a competitor that owns both the business graph and the productivity stack, forcing them to respond on integration rather than features alone.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, large platform acquisitions increasingly clear antitrust review through behavioral commitments like open add-in access rather than structural divestitures — a template regulators and acquirers alike can reuse.
- The deal validates Microsoft's Nadella-era strategy of buying standalone franchises and wiring them into Office and Windows, a playbook the dedicated Windows 10 LinkedIn app later extended.
The trend: Big-tech M&A is clearing regulatory hurdles through product-level concessions, while acquirers convert bought networks into distribution advantages across their own platforms.