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Tag: Microsoft

  • Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for USD 26.2 billion

    Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for USD 26.2 billion

    MUMBAI: What comes as a major development in the technology and social media space, tech giant Microsoft has announced its plan to acquire LinkedIn, the social network that connects professionals by the end of this financial year. The company will buy LinkedIn’s shares priced at $196 in an all cash transaction amounting the acquisition to $26.2 billion, which includes LinkedIn’s liquidity as well.

    The acquisition will not affect LinkedIn’s branding, work culture and independence, with its CEO Jeff Weiner retaining his position and reporting to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

    “The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals,” Nadella has said at a press conference announcing the development. “Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics as we seek to empower every person and organization on the planet,” he added.

    In the past one year LinkedIn has shown great growth trajectories ranging around 19 percent growth year over year (YOY) and expanded its network base to more than 433 million members worldwide. The social media platform had released a new mobile friendly version and acquired learning platform Lynda.com to add to its services.

    “Just as we have changed the way the world connects to opportunity, this relationship with Microsoft, and the combination of their cloud and LinkedIn’s network, now gives us a chance to also change the way the world works,” Weiner said, supporting the acquisition. “For the last 13 years, we’ve been uniquely positioned to connect professionals to make them more productive and successful, and I’m looking forward to leading our team through the next chapter of our story.”

    “Today is a re-founding moment for LinkedIn. I see incredible opportunity for our members and customers and look forward to supporting this new and combined business,” said LinkedIn co founder Reid Hoffman . “I fully support this transaction and the Board’s decision to pursue it, and will vote my shares in accordance with their recommendation on it.”

    To carry this high profile M & A forward, Morgan Stanley is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Microsoft, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is acting as legal advisor to Microsoft. On the other hand Qatalyst Partners and Allen & Company LLC are acting as financial advisors to LinkedIn, while Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation, is acting as legal advisor.

    Microsoft will finance the transaction primarily through the issuance of new indebtedness. Upon closing, Microsoft expects LinkedIn’s financials to be reported as part of Microsoft’s Productivity and Business Processes segment. Microsoft expects the acquisition to have minimal dilution of ~1 percent to non-GAAP earnings per share for the remainder of fiscal year 2017 post-closing and for fiscal year 2018 based on the expected close date, and become accretive to Microsoft’s non-GAAP earnings per share in Microsoft’s fiscal year 2019 or less than two years post-closing.

    In addition, Microsoft also reiterated its intention to complete its existing $40 billion share repurchase authorization by Dec. 31, 2016, the same timeframe as previously committed. Microsoft and LinkedIn will host a joint conference call with investors on June 13, 2016, at 8:45 a.m. Pacific Time/11:45 a.m. eastern time to discuss the transaction in detail.

    (Source: Microsoft Media Release)

  • Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for USD 26.2 billion

    Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for USD 26.2 billion

    MUMBAI: What comes as a major development in the technology and social media space, tech giant Microsoft has announced its plan to acquire LinkedIn, the social network that connects professionals by the end of this financial year. The company will buy LinkedIn’s shares priced at $196 in an all cash transaction amounting the acquisition to $26.2 billion, which includes LinkedIn’s liquidity as well.

    The acquisition will not affect LinkedIn’s branding, work culture and independence, with its CEO Jeff Weiner retaining his position and reporting to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

    “The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals,” Nadella has said at a press conference announcing the development. “Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics as we seek to empower every person and organization on the planet,” he added.

    In the past one year LinkedIn has shown great growth trajectories ranging around 19 percent growth year over year (YOY) and expanded its network base to more than 433 million members worldwide. The social media platform had released a new mobile friendly version and acquired learning platform Lynda.com to add to its services.

    “Just as we have changed the way the world connects to opportunity, this relationship with Microsoft, and the combination of their cloud and LinkedIn’s network, now gives us a chance to also change the way the world works,” Weiner said, supporting the acquisition. “For the last 13 years, we’ve been uniquely positioned to connect professionals to make them more productive and successful, and I’m looking forward to leading our team through the next chapter of our story.”

    “Today is a re-founding moment for LinkedIn. I see incredible opportunity for our members and customers and look forward to supporting this new and combined business,” said LinkedIn co founder Reid Hoffman . “I fully support this transaction and the Board’s decision to pursue it, and will vote my shares in accordance with their recommendation on it.”

    To carry this high profile M & A forward, Morgan Stanley is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Microsoft, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is acting as legal advisor to Microsoft. On the other hand Qatalyst Partners and Allen & Company LLC are acting as financial advisors to LinkedIn, while Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation, is acting as legal advisor.

    Microsoft will finance the transaction primarily through the issuance of new indebtedness. Upon closing, Microsoft expects LinkedIn’s financials to be reported as part of Microsoft’s Productivity and Business Processes segment. Microsoft expects the acquisition to have minimal dilution of ~1 percent to non-GAAP earnings per share for the remainder of fiscal year 2017 post-closing and for fiscal year 2018 based on the expected close date, and become accretive to Microsoft’s non-GAAP earnings per share in Microsoft’s fiscal year 2019 or less than two years post-closing.

    In addition, Microsoft also reiterated its intention to complete its existing $40 billion share repurchase authorization by Dec. 31, 2016, the same timeframe as previously committed. Microsoft and LinkedIn will host a joint conference call with investors on June 13, 2016, at 8:45 a.m. Pacific Time/11:45 a.m. eastern time to discuss the transaction in detail.

    (Source: Microsoft Media Release)

  • Microsoft and Facebook to build an innovative new subsea cable across the Atlantic Ocean

    Microsoft and Facebook to build an innovative new subsea cable across the Atlantic Ocean

    MENLO PARK, Calif. and REDMOND, Wash., May 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ –Today, Microsoft (NASDAQ “MSFT” @microsoft) and Facebook(NASDAQ:FB) announced an agreement to build a new, state-of-the-art subsea cable across the Atlantic. The new “MAREA” cable will help meet the growing customer demand for high speed, reliable connections for cloud and online services for Microsoft, Facebook and their customers. The parties have cleared conditions to go Contract-In-Force (CIF) with their plans, and construction of the cable will commence in August 2016 with completion expected in October 2017.

    Microsoft and Facebook are collaborating on this system to accelerate the development of the next-generation of Internet infrastructure and support the explosion of data consumption and rapid growth of their respective cloud and online services. MAREA will be the highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic – eight fiber pairs and an initial estimated design capacity of 160Tbps. The new 6,600 km submarine cable system, to be operated and managed by Telxius, Telefónica’s new telecommunications infrastructure company, will also be the first to connect the United States to southern Europe, from the data hub of Northern Virginia to Bilbao, Spain and then to network hubs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. This route is south of other transatlantic cable systems, thereby helping ensure more resilient and reliable connections for customers in the United States,Europe, and beyond.

    Microsoft and Facebook designed MAREA to be interoperable with a variety of networking equipment. This new “open” design brings significant benefits for customers: lower costs and easier equipment upgrades which leads to faster growth in bandwidth rates since the system can evolve at the pace of optical technology innovation.

    Microsoft and Facebook are working with Telxius to build upon Telefónica’s longstanding experience in subsea cables on this innovative new system. Telxius will serve as the operator of the system and sell capacity as part of their wholesale infrastructure business.

    “As the world is increasingly moving toward a future based on cloud computing, Microsoft continues to invest in our cloud infrastructure to meet current and future growing global demand for our more than 200 cloud services, including Bing, Office 365, Skype, Xbox Live and the Microsoft Azure platform,” said Christian Belady, General Manager, Datacenter Strategy, Planning & Development, Microsoft Corp. “The MAREA transatlantic cable we’re building with Facebook and Telxius will provide new, low-latency connectivity that will help meet the increasing demand for higher-speed capacity across the Atlantic. By building the cable along this new southern route, we will also increase the resiliency of our global network, helping ensure even greater reliability for our customers.”

    “Facebook wants to make it possible for people to have deep connections and shared experiences with the people who matter to them most — anywhere in the world, and at any time,” said Najam Ahmad, Vice President of Network Engineering at Facebook. “We’re always evaluating new technologies and systems in order to provide the best connectivity possible. By creating a vendor-agnostic design with Microsoft and Telxius, we can choose the hardware and software that best serves the system and ultimately increase the pace of innovation. We want to do more of these projects in this manner — allowing us to move fast with more collaboration. We think this is how most subsea cable systems will be built in the future.”

    “Working with Facebook and Microsoft in this project will reinforce Telxius’ position as a worldwide leading infra company not only expanding on-net capabilities to Spain and the USA but also allowing us to capture market opportunities in Western Europe and new emerging routes in Northern Africa and other regions,” said Rafael Arranz, Chief Operating Officer of Telxius Cable.

  • Microsoft and Facebook to build an innovative new subsea cable across the Atlantic Ocean

    Microsoft and Facebook to build an innovative new subsea cable across the Atlantic Ocean

    MENLO PARK, Calif. and REDMOND, Wash., May 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ –Today, Microsoft (NASDAQ “MSFT” @microsoft) and Facebook(NASDAQ:FB) announced an agreement to build a new, state-of-the-art subsea cable across the Atlantic. The new “MAREA” cable will help meet the growing customer demand for high speed, reliable connections for cloud and online services for Microsoft, Facebook and their customers. The parties have cleared conditions to go Contract-In-Force (CIF) with their plans, and construction of the cable will commence in August 2016 with completion expected in October 2017.

    Microsoft and Facebook are collaborating on this system to accelerate the development of the next-generation of Internet infrastructure and support the explosion of data consumption and rapid growth of their respective cloud and online services. MAREA will be the highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic – eight fiber pairs and an initial estimated design capacity of 160Tbps. The new 6,600 km submarine cable system, to be operated and managed by Telxius, Telefónica’s new telecommunications infrastructure company, will also be the first to connect the United States to southern Europe, from the data hub of Northern Virginia to Bilbao, Spain and then to network hubs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. This route is south of other transatlantic cable systems, thereby helping ensure more resilient and reliable connections for customers in the United States,Europe, and beyond.

    Microsoft and Facebook designed MAREA to be interoperable with a variety of networking equipment. This new “open” design brings significant benefits for customers: lower costs and easier equipment upgrades which leads to faster growth in bandwidth rates since the system can evolve at the pace of optical technology innovation.

    Microsoft and Facebook are working with Telxius to build upon Telefónica’s longstanding experience in subsea cables on this innovative new system. Telxius will serve as the operator of the system and sell capacity as part of their wholesale infrastructure business.

    “As the world is increasingly moving toward a future based on cloud computing, Microsoft continues to invest in our cloud infrastructure to meet current and future growing global demand for our more than 200 cloud services, including Bing, Office 365, Skype, Xbox Live and the Microsoft Azure platform,” said Christian Belady, General Manager, Datacenter Strategy, Planning & Development, Microsoft Corp. “The MAREA transatlantic cable we’re building with Facebook and Telxius will provide new, low-latency connectivity that will help meet the increasing demand for higher-speed capacity across the Atlantic. By building the cable along this new southern route, we will also increase the resiliency of our global network, helping ensure even greater reliability for our customers.”

    “Facebook wants to make it possible for people to have deep connections and shared experiences with the people who matter to them most — anywhere in the world, and at any time,” said Najam Ahmad, Vice President of Network Engineering at Facebook. “We’re always evaluating new technologies and systems in order to provide the best connectivity possible. By creating a vendor-agnostic design with Microsoft and Telxius, we can choose the hardware and software that best serves the system and ultimately increase the pace of innovation. We want to do more of these projects in this manner — allowing us to move fast with more collaboration. We think this is how most subsea cable systems will be built in the future.”

    “Working with Facebook and Microsoft in this project will reinforce Telxius’ position as a worldwide leading infra company not only expanding on-net capabilities to Spain and the USA but also allowing us to capture market opportunities in Western Europe and new emerging routes in Northern Africa and other regions,” said Rafael Arranz, Chief Operating Officer of Telxius Cable.

  • Microsoft streamlines its smart-phone hardware business impacting 1,850 jobs

    Microsoft streamlines its smart-phone hardware business impacting 1,850 jobs

    MUMBAI: Microsoft Corp has announced plans to streamline the company’s smart-phone hardware business, which will impact up to 1,850 jobs. As a result, the company will record impairment and restructuring charge of approximately $950 million, of which approximately $200 million will relate to severance payments.

    “We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation — with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms.”

    Microsoft anticipates this will result in the reduction of up to 1,350 jobs at Microsoft Mobile Oy in Finland, as well as up to 500 additional jobs globally. Employees working for Microsoft Oy, a separate Microsoft sales subsidiary based in Espoo, are not in scope for the planned reductions.

    As a result of the action, Microsoft will record a charge in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 for the impairment of assets in its More Personal Computing segment, related to these phone decisions.

    The actions associated with today’s announcement are expected to be substantially complete by the end of the calendar year and fully completed by July 2017, the end of the company’s next fiscal year.

    More information about these charges will be provided in Microsoft’s fourth-quarter earnings announcement on July 19, 2016, and in the company’s 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

    Microsoft is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

  • Microsoft streamlines its smart-phone hardware business impacting 1,850 jobs

    Microsoft streamlines its smart-phone hardware business impacting 1,850 jobs

    MUMBAI: Microsoft Corp has announced plans to streamline the company’s smart-phone hardware business, which will impact up to 1,850 jobs. As a result, the company will record impairment and restructuring charge of approximately $950 million, of which approximately $200 million will relate to severance payments.

    “We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation — with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms.”

    Microsoft anticipates this will result in the reduction of up to 1,350 jobs at Microsoft Mobile Oy in Finland, as well as up to 500 additional jobs globally. Employees working for Microsoft Oy, a separate Microsoft sales subsidiary based in Espoo, are not in scope for the planned reductions.

    As a result of the action, Microsoft will record a charge in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 for the impairment of assets in its More Personal Computing segment, related to these phone decisions.

    The actions associated with today’s announcement are expected to be substantially complete by the end of the calendar year and fully completed by July 2017, the end of the company’s next fiscal year.

    More information about these charges will be provided in Microsoft’s fourth-quarter earnings announcement on July 19, 2016, and in the company’s 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

    Microsoft is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

  • BBDO India gets Ritu Sharda as senior executive creative director in Delhi

    BBDO India gets Ritu Sharda as senior executive creative director in Delhi

    MUMBAI: BBDO India announced Ritu Sharda as the new senior executive creative director in Delhi. Sharda joins the leadership as part of the reputed team behind the globally acclaimed ideas such as Ariel ‘Share the Load’ and Whisper ‘Touch the Pickle’. In her new role at BBDO India, Sharda will be looking to lead a strong creative team and bring in her creative flavour to existing accounts such as 7 Up, Quaker Oats, Mirinda, Zandu, Wrigley’s, SC Johnson and Exxon Mobil. She will also be responsible for leading the creative standards for new businesses based out of Delhi.

    BBDO India chairman and CCO Josy Paul commented, “We are thrilled to have Ritu Sharda leading the creative culture and product of BBDO in Delhi. Ritu is a transformational artist, poet, writer, social observer, and an internationally recognized builder of big brands. Her sensitivity to the truth and power of advertising as a change agent in society is what makes her super special. Our highly talented Delhi team will benefit greatly from her creative energy and inspired leadership.”

    Sharda has worked with an impressive array of brands through her career so far. Prior to joining BBDO India, Sharda led the creative work on brands such as Sony Bravia and HCL in her role as executive creative director at ITSA Brand Innovations. She also marked her directorial debut with films for Sony Bravia. Her creative influence spans agencies such as McCann, Publicis India, DDB Mudra and Contract.  Her compelling work and ideas have contributed significantly to brands like Aviva, Coke, HP, Microsoft, MasterCard, Dabur, Samsung, Maggi, HBO, McDonald’s, Nestle to name a few. Her immensely popular campaigns for Maggi and Coke have earned her major acclaim and recognition in the industry. And her diversity of ideas have won major metals and honour at Cannes, GoaFest, Effies and One Show.

    On joining BBDO India, Sharda says, “I am super excited. I met Josy a couple of months back and it was an absolute delight and things have clicked beautifully from there on. I love the kind of work BBDO is doing. The time, the place, everything feels just right.”

  • BBDO India gets Ritu Sharda as senior executive creative director in Delhi

    BBDO India gets Ritu Sharda as senior executive creative director in Delhi

    MUMBAI: BBDO India announced Ritu Sharda as the new senior executive creative director in Delhi. Sharda joins the leadership as part of the reputed team behind the globally acclaimed ideas such as Ariel ‘Share the Load’ and Whisper ‘Touch the Pickle’. In her new role at BBDO India, Sharda will be looking to lead a strong creative team and bring in her creative flavour to existing accounts such as 7 Up, Quaker Oats, Mirinda, Zandu, Wrigley’s, SC Johnson and Exxon Mobil. She will also be responsible for leading the creative standards for new businesses based out of Delhi.

    BBDO India chairman and CCO Josy Paul commented, “We are thrilled to have Ritu Sharda leading the creative culture and product of BBDO in Delhi. Ritu is a transformational artist, poet, writer, social observer, and an internationally recognized builder of big brands. Her sensitivity to the truth and power of advertising as a change agent in society is what makes her super special. Our highly talented Delhi team will benefit greatly from her creative energy and inspired leadership.”

    Sharda has worked with an impressive array of brands through her career so far. Prior to joining BBDO India, Sharda led the creative work on brands such as Sony Bravia and HCL in her role as executive creative director at ITSA Brand Innovations. She also marked her directorial debut with films for Sony Bravia. Her creative influence spans agencies such as McCann, Publicis India, DDB Mudra and Contract.  Her compelling work and ideas have contributed significantly to brands like Aviva, Coke, HP, Microsoft, MasterCard, Dabur, Samsung, Maggi, HBO, McDonald’s, Nestle to name a few. Her immensely popular campaigns for Maggi and Coke have earned her major acclaim and recognition in the industry. And her diversity of ideas have won major metals and honour at Cannes, GoaFest, Effies and One Show.

    On joining BBDO India, Sharda says, “I am super excited. I met Josy a couple of months back and it was an absolute delight and things have clicked beautifully from there on. I love the kind of work BBDO is doing. The time, the place, everything feels just right.”

  • Dentsu Webchutney promotes Tanvi Jain to SVP

    Dentsu Webchutney promotes Tanvi Jain to SVP

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Webchutney, the full-service digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has announced the promotion of TanviJain to senior vice president and branch head in Delhi. Prior to this, Jain was vice president at Dentsu Digital.

    As part of her new mandate, Jain will be responsible for acquiring new clients apart from taking the lead in servicing the existing clients. She will also be responsible for revenue growth from the region and will continue to report to m Dentsu Webchutney, chief executive officer and co-founder Sidharth Rao .

    Speaking on the promotion, Rao says, “Jain is one of the finest talents that we currently have on board. I have previously worked with Jain in the early years of Dentsu Webchutney and I am extremely glad to have her back. Delhi is our largest office and we are looking forward to scaling new heights in 2016 under Jain’s leadership.”

    Jain adds, “As part of the Dentsu Aegis Network with almost 700 digital professionals, we have the opportunity to reshape the digital industry and partner our clients in their transformational journey across the new digital native consumer landscape. I am honoured to lead the Dentsu Webchutney brand in Delhi which has over 100 people and some of the best clients in the business.”

    Jain began her career with event management in 2003 and went on to work for agencies such as Dentsu Webchutney, Isobar and Sapient Nitro.

    Some of the clients that Jain has worked on include Microsoft, ICICI, Adidas, MasterCard ME, Canon, Hitachi, Frito Lays, Coca Cola.

  • Dentsu Webchutney promotes Tanvi Jain to SVP

    Dentsu Webchutney promotes Tanvi Jain to SVP

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Webchutney, the full-service digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has announced the promotion of TanviJain to senior vice president and branch head in Delhi. Prior to this, Jain was vice president at Dentsu Digital.

    As part of her new mandate, Jain will be responsible for acquiring new clients apart from taking the lead in servicing the existing clients. She will also be responsible for revenue growth from the region and will continue to report to m Dentsu Webchutney, chief executive officer and co-founder Sidharth Rao .

    Speaking on the promotion, Rao says, “Jain is one of the finest talents that we currently have on board. I have previously worked with Jain in the early years of Dentsu Webchutney and I am extremely glad to have her back. Delhi is our largest office and we are looking forward to scaling new heights in 2016 under Jain’s leadership.”

    Jain adds, “As part of the Dentsu Aegis Network with almost 700 digital professionals, we have the opportunity to reshape the digital industry and partner our clients in their transformational journey across the new digital native consumer landscape. I am honoured to lead the Dentsu Webchutney brand in Delhi which has over 100 people and some of the best clients in the business.”

    Jain began her career with event management in 2003 and went on to work for agencies such as Dentsu Webchutney, Isobar and Sapient Nitro.

    Some of the clients that Jain has worked on include Microsoft, ICICI, Adidas, MasterCard ME, Canon, Hitachi, Frito Lays, Coca Cola.