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Before announcing its LinkedIn acquisition in June 2016, Microsoft’s largest prior deal in VentureBeat’s ranking was Skype at $8.5 billion. The proposed $26.2 billion LinkedIn transaction was more than three times that figure. The five-deal list below is a snapshot from June 13, 2016—not a ranking of Microsoft’s acquisitions today.
Microsoft’s five biggest prior acquisitions in the June 2016 list
VentureBeat published this ranking on June 13, 2016, the day Microsoft announced its LinkedIn deal. It described LinkedIn as Microsoft’s most valuable acquisition to that date. Values below follow the article’s order and wording, with the Nokia discrepancy made explicit.
| Order | Company or business | Year | Reported value | What it brought | Value basis or caveat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Skype | 2011 | $8.5 billion | Communications service | VentureBeat’s June 2016 figure; transaction form not stated in that article. |
| 2 | Nokia’s phone unit | 2013 | $7.6 billion in the VentureBeat heading; $7.2 billion in its body | Mobile-phone business | The article gives conflicting figures. Microsoft’s FY2016 annual report separately records a $9.4 billion total purchase price for substantially all of Nokia’s Devices and Services business, including $1.5 billion of cash acquired; this is a different scope and accounting presentation. |
| 3 | aQuantive | 2007 | $6.3 billion | Digital advertising | VentureBeat’s June 2016 figure; transaction form not stated in that article. |
| 4 | Mojang | 2014 | $2.5 billion | Developer of the Minecraft franchise | Microsoft’s FY2016 annual report describes this as cash, net of cash acquired. |
| 5 | Visio | 2000 | $1.5 billion | Diagramming software | VentureBeat reports that Microsoft paid in stock. |
Sources: VentureBeat’s June 13, 2016 list and Microsoft’s FY2016 annual report.
How the LinkedIn deal compared
Microsoft announced an all-cash offer valued at $26.2 billion, inclusive of LinkedIn’s net cash. That announced value exceeded the $8.5 billion Skype figure by $17.7 billion and was just over three times as large. It was an announced transaction value, not one of the five completed historical deals in the comparison table.
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In the announcement, Microsoft said, “LinkedIn will retain its distinct brand, culture and independence.” The statement described the planned arrangement; it does not change the financial comparison above.
Source: Microsoft’s June 13, 2016 announcement.
Why the Nokia amount needs qualification
The Nokia entry cannot be reduced to one clean number without losing context. VentureBeat’s headline gives $7.6 billion, while its article body says $7.2 billion. Microsoft’s FY2016 annual report uses a separate $9.4 billion total purchase price for substantially all of Nokia’s Devices and Services business and specifies that the total includes $1.5 billion of cash acquired. These are not interchangeable figures: the annual-report description identifies a broader accounting basis than the simplified phone-unit figures in VentureBeat.
Rank #2
The annual report also records $7.5 billion in goodwill and asset impairment charges related to the phone business in FY2015. That charge is a later accounting write-down, not the original purchase price.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read this historical ranking
The list is useful for comparing the scale and variety of Microsoft’s acquisitions immediately before its LinkedIn announcement: communications, phones, digital advertising, gaming, and diagramming software. It should not be cited as Microsoft’s current all-time ranking. Microsoft’s investor history includes acquisition dates and later deals, so a present-day ranking would require a different cutoff and updated evidence.
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Rank #3
Source: Microsoft investor acquisition history.
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