Microsoft seeks EU blessing for LinkedIn purchase

Microsoft on Friday said it is seeking regulatory approval of its LinkedIn acquisition from the European Union. 

“We can confirm we have notified the Microsoft LinkedIn deal to the European Commission,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

{mosads}Reuters first reported on news of the filing, writing that the commission has set a Nov. 22 deadline to review the case. Should the commission have any concerns, they can open an investigation on the matter.

Salesforce.com had reportedly raised concerns over the deal to the European Union, citing antitrust issues. 

The company stressed to regulators that the deal could unfairly exclude other companies from accessing LinkedIn’s vast amount of data and that Microsoft could gain an unfair advantage by combining its software with this data.

European Commissioner on Competition Margarethe Vestager has previously said that data is something the commission will look at in assessing antitrust cases.

“A company might even buy up a rival just to get hold of its data, even though it hasn’t yet managed to turn that data into money,” she said.

“We are therefore exploring whether we need to start looking at mergers with valuable data involved, even though the company that owns it doesn’t have a large turnover.”

Salesforce, a San Francisco-based cloud computing company, had also made a bid for LinkedIn, which it declined in favor of Microsoft’s offer.

A Microsoft spokesperson told The Hill that the deal has been reviewed and approved by other countries.

“The acquisition has been reviewed and cleared unconditionally in the U.S., Canada, and Brazil and we remain confident that we will obtain final regulatory approval [from the EU] by the end of 2016,” the spokesperson said.