UPDATED 22:28 EDT / SEPTEMBER 29 2016

NEWS

Salesforce moves to block Microsoft’s ‘anticompetitive’ acquisition of LinkedIn

Salesforce.com Inc. is attempting to derail Microsoft’s proposed $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn Corp.

The maker of customer relationship management and other software is urging the European Union to oppose the deal, saying the merger would be “anti-competitive” and give Microsoft an “unfair advantage.” The New York Times broke the story, quoting three people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak about it publicly.

Salesforce’s tactic of protesting to the EU first appears to be a smart move, given that European officials have in recent years been a lot tougher on what they perceive as the monopolistic actions of some tech firms, such as Google Inc., which has been dogged by investigations there for years.

However, Salesforce’s Chief Legal Officer Burke Norton told the press that the company plans to fight the acquisition globally, not just in the EU, saying competition and data privacy authorities in the U.S. and the EU need to look into it.

“Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of LinkedIn threatens the future of innovation and competition,” Norton said in a statement to the press. “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.”

The Times said EU antitrust officials have already begun soliciting information from rivals opposed to the deal as part of routine inquiries. According to Bloomberg, the deal hasn’t yet been submitted by Microsoft to the EU for regulatory approval. Later, Microsoft said it was planning to do so by November.

Salesforce’s claims, however, may be seen as self-serving given that the company also attempted to acquire LinkedIn, only to be outbid by Microsoft. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s legal team believes that the deal is already well on track to complete.

“Salesforce may not be aware, but the deal has already been cleared to close in the United States, Canada, and Brazil,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer, said in a statement to the media. “We’re committed to continuing to work to bring price competition to a CRM market in which Salesforce is the dominant participant charging customers higher prices today.”

That didn’t stop Salesforce’s outspoken Chief Executive Marc Benioff from sharing his own outrage at the deal in a tweet on Thursday:

Microsoft added that it expects to the acquisition to close before the end of this calendar year.

Photo Credit: piyush.k Flickr via Compfight cc

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