Microsoft Corporation MSFT stunned the tech world on Monday by announcing a massive $26.2 billion buyout of LinkedIn Corp LNKD that sent shares of LinkedIn surging 47 percent in early trading.
The Top 5
Where does the huge deal rank among the largest Internet buyouts in history? Here’s a look at the five largest deals.
No. 5: Microsoft Buys Skype For $8.5 billion (2011)LinkedIn isn’t the first time Microsoft has dropped big bucks on a buyout. Back in 2011, Microsoft upped its communication offerings by acquiring Skype and its instant messaging and voice and video chat technology.
No. 4: Oracle Corporation ORCL Buys Peoplesoft For $10.4 billion (2004)Years before the cloud, Peoplesoft had cutting-edge human resources software that Oracle knew would create huge value over time.
No. 3: Facebook Inc FB Buys WhatsApp For $19 billion (2014)It may have seemed like an expensive price tag at the time, but Facebook’s big move to acquire WhatsApp gave the company control of the world’s most popular mobile messaging app, which helped Facebook expand its international presence and ensured Facebook would maintain its dominant position in mobile social networking.
It’s way too early to tell whether or not the new Internet mega-merger is a good move for Microsoft. One thing is for sure: Microsoft is hoping the deal works out better than the largest deal in Internet history.
No. 1: AOL, Inc. AOL Buys Time Warner Inc TWX For $160 billion (2000)As a rule of thumb, making the largest buyout in corporate history during the peak of a stock bubble is not generally a good move. AOL was spun off in 2009, and the merger is still emblematic of the frenzied nature of the Dot Com Bubble.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.
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