Microsoft offers concessions to European Commission over LinkedIn deal

European Commission to rule on Microsoft-LinkedIn deal on 6 December

Microsoft has offered a number of concessions to European Union competition authorities in a bid to win approval for its $26bn acquisition of business social network LinkedIn.

The deal was struck in a surprise move in July, with the EU opening its competition investigation in October. That included questioning Microsoft's rivals about the deal, examining LinkedIn's data and whether rival sites can replicate it.

It appears that the initial investigation set some alarm bells ringing, as Reuters reported that Microsoft has tried to ease the European Commission's (EC's) concerns about the acquisition.

The report said that the move occurred after "the EU competition enforcer expressed concerns about the deal at a meeting with Microsoft executives last week".

Details of what concessions Microsoft offered have not been made public, though.

It's likely that the EC's concerns follow pressure from Salesforce, which tried to block Microsoft's LinkedIn acquisition and accused the former of anti-competitive behaviour. Salesforce also bid on LinkedIn and lost to Microsoft.

Speaking in September, Salesforce's chief legal officer, Burke Norton, said: "Microsoft's proposed acquisition of LinkedIn threatens the future of innovation and competition.

"By gaining ownership of LinkedIn's unique dataset of over 450 million professionals in more than 200 countries, Microsoft will be able to deny competitors access to that data, and in doing so obtain an unfair competitive advantage."

Further details remain vague, but the report noted that the EC will rule on the deal by 6 December, after seeking feedback from rivals and customers before deciding whether to accept Microsoft's concessions, demand more or open a full investigation.

Microsoft has yet to comment on its latest move, but said previously that it sees competition from social network Facebook and wants regulators to take that into account.

The EC is expected to issue its thoughts on the situation on 6 December.