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American cloud computing company Salesforce has expressed dissatisfaction as Microsoft closes in on a deal to acquire Linkedin for $26.2 billion.
Salesforce, which is a direct competitor to software giant Microsoft, is trying to block the take over; it claims that Microsoft purchasing Linkedin would significantly ‘hurt competition’.
The cloud computing major said the acquisition of Linkedin would give Microsoft access to all of the social network’s data and it might be reluctant on sharing with competitors alike.
According to Wall Street Journal, Burke Norton, Salesforce’s chief legal officer, said there are several discrepancies related to privacy issue involved in the deal, and called for an investigation from the US and European Union (EU).
He further pointed out that Linkedin’s acquisition by Microsoft “threatens the future of innovation and competition.”
Too late?
While Salesforce have raised questions of the deal, it has been learnt that Microsoft’s take over plan has already been reviewed by copious regulators from unnamed countries, subsequently giving a green signal to the deal.
In a classic scenario of a company ‘face-off’, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s chief legal officer, gave a fitting reply to Salesforce, informing them “the deal has already been cleared to close in the United States, Canada, and Brazil.”
Taking a dig at Salesforce, Smith said: “We’re committed to continuing to work to bring price competition to a CRM market in which Salesforce is the dominant participant charging customers higher prices today.”
As of now, Salesforce hasn’t filed a formal complaint against the takeover, but sources confirmed that the company has already completed a form sent by the EU. These forms are handed out to companies who face risk from such major deals.
Salesforce also made it clear that it wants to work closely with regulators, lawmakers and other stakeholders to deem this merger as “anticompetitive.”
The EU had earlier assured that it will closely look into data deals which had the potential to affect competitors and violate privacy. No formal investigation has begun yet.
