NEWSLETTER-2017

125 COMPETITION LAW The Commission accepted the above-stated commitments of Microsoft, and approved the Transaction, without the need for an in- depth investigation. These commitments will apply in the European Economic Area for a period of five years, and will be monitored by a trustee. Conclusion Following Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp, Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn, which is valued at approximately USD 26 billion 19 , is considered to be the greatest large-scale company transac- tion thus far in technology history. The Transaction is also significant in terms of the Commission’s assessment of competition within the framework of the European Union Merger Regulation. Due to the Commission’sconcerns as to professional social network services, Microsoft offered a series of commitments to the Commission in order for the Transaction to be cleared. Another essential point to highlight is: How the ‘big data’ concerns of the Commission were reviewed in this Transaction. In this regard, the Commission`s review of this Transaction -particularly review of the acquisition of LinkedIn`s data by Microsoft- was waited anxiously and, nevertheless, the Commis- sion dismissed its `big data` concerns in this Transaction. 19 Joshua Jamerson, Microsoft Closes Acquisition of LinkedIn, 28.12.2016, avail- able at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-closes-acquisition-of-linke- din-1481215151 (Access date: 07.04.2017).