LinkedIn has revealed that a bidding war between Salesforce and Microsoft led to the latter paying approximately US$5 billion more than initially offered.
Microsoft announced it would acquire over 134 million LinkedIn shares for US$196 each in cash, bringing the final price tag to US$26.6 billion.
In a document filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, LinkedIn revealed that on 25 April, a company identified as Party A, which is understand to be Salesforce, indicated it would pay between US$160 and US$165 per share with a mix of cash and common stock.
Nine days later, Microsoft proposed to buy the company for US$160 per share in cash, approximately US$21.5 billion.
The two companies continued to trade increasingly higher bids until 11 June when LinkedIn agreed to take Microsoft's offer at US$196 per share in cash. Salesforce's last bid was for US$85 in cash plus a fixed number of shares, bringing the total value to approximately US$200 per share.
Microsoft and Salesforce also had to fend off from three other bidders who were not named.
The document hinted at the possibility of redundancies following the acquisition, after Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella insisted on calculating the "cost of synergies" of the deal during the bidding process.
During the negotiation, Microsoft founder Bill Gates joined Microsoft's board of directors to meet with LinkedIn co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman.
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