Microsoft's proposed $26 billion acquisition of LinkedIn has finally been approved by European Union regulators on the condition that the tech giant agrees with several minor concessions that were laid down to finalize the deal.
The conditions laid by the European Union is reminiscent of previous Microsoft antitrust actions which include the settlement of some court cases. The $26 billion deal with LinkedIn is to date the biggest ever acquisition made by Microsoft, according to CNet.
As part of the deal, Microsoft said that it would not require computer manufacturers to install a LinkedIn app or Windows 10 tile on hardware sold within the European Economic Area. Microsoft added that users should be able to remove any LinkedIn app or tile in Windows and promised that it would not use the Windows platform to force users to install the LinkedIn app.
Microsoft promised that it would give LinkeIn competitors access to the Office Add-in program and APIs of the Office suite. This concession will allow LinkedIn rivals to have equal access to Microsoft's suites and services. LinkedIn competitors are also given equal access to the one-stop API delivery platform, and the Microsoft Graph.
In a statement acquired by Computer World, the European Union Commission wrote, "The Commission was concerned that the increase in LinkedIn's user base would make it harder to new players to start providing professional social network services in the European Economic Area."
Both Microsoft and LinkedIn are yet to confirm whether they will merge their databases once the acquisition is completed. Nevertheless, European Union regulators said that they were satisfied with Microsoft's promise of giving LinkedIn's rivals equal access to its services.
The European Union said that Microsoft would have to abide with these concessions for five years. The union added that it will nominate a trustee that would monitor and make sure Microsoft is keeping its promises.