Microsoft agrees to buy LinkedIn for $26.2 billion

[June 13, 2016]  (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp agreed to buy LinkedIn Corp for $26.2 billion in cash, the companies said in a statement on Monday.

The offer of $196 per share represents a premium of 49.5 percent to LinkedIn's Friday closing price.

"Today is a re-founding moment for LinkedIn," Reid Hoffman, chairman of LinkedIn's board, said in a statement.

Jeff Weiner will remain chief executive of LinkedIn, reporting to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

The deal is expected to close in 2016.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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