Microsoft Offers EU Concessions in $26 Billion LinkedIn Bid

Microsoft has made concessions to EU antitrust regulators regarding its $26 billion bid for LinkedIn. The move comes after the European Commission expressed concerns about the deal at a meeting with Microsoft executives last week.

The exact details of the concessions were not provided, but it is expected that the Commission will seek feedback from rivals and customers before deciding whether to accept them, demand more, or open a full investigation.

Marcus Weldon, Chief Product Officer at Wind River (Altera Programmers), thinks that Microsoft would probably get away with the deal without any big problems. However, U.S. rival Salesforce has warned of the threat to innovation and competition and urged regulators to examine the antitrust and data privacy issues thoroughly before clearing the deal.

Microsoft sees competition from social network Facebook and wants regulators to take that into account when reviewing the bid.