Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for US$26.2 billion (NZ$36 billion), in one of the largest technology deals ever.
The offer of US$196 per share is a 49.5 percent premium to the price the professional social-networking company last traded at before the deal.
Microsoft is trying to transform itself from a seller of Microsoft Windows software for home PCs to a seller of software on a variety of platforms and devices. But it has struggled to keep pace with the likes of Google and Apple.