LinkedIn LNKD, the world's largest professional network on the Internet with
more than 200 million members worldwide, today announced it agreed to
acquire Pulse (owned by Alphonso Labs, Inc.), a leading news reader and
mobile content distribution platform.
Pulse was founded in 2010 by Akshay Kothari and Ankit Gupta while they were
students at Stanford University. It quickly grew to become one of the most
widely used platforms for content consumption on the Internet. Pulse
currently has more than 30 million users who have activated its iOS and
Android-based news reader apps in more than 190 countries. Pulse is
available in nine languages, and approximately 40% of users are outside the
United States. More than 750 of the world's leading publishers distribute
their content through Pulse.
"We are thrilled to be able to add Pulse's considerable talent, technology,
and products to our growing ecosystem of content offerings, and we believe
that they will help us accelerate our ability to deliver to our members the
insights they need to be better at what they do, on any device," said Deep
Nishar, SVP of Products and User Experience. "To continue to deliver that
value to our members, our vision for content is that LinkedIn will be the
definitive professional publishing platform, and Pulse is a perfect
complement to this vision."
"News--the people, the places, the stories--is part of our daily
conversation. Over the past three years, Pulse has established itself as a
key part of that conversation; it has grown from a small project, to a
platform for millions of readers to access their favorite content," said
Kothari. Gupta added, "Now that our team is part of LinkedIn, we'll work
together to expand the possibilities for content discovery, helping readers
engage in conversations with colleagues, mentors, industry leaders, and
beyond."
Following closing, members of the Pulse team, including those from
Engineering, Product and Design, will join LinkedIn at the company's
Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. The existing Pulse apps will continue
to be supported as the integrated Pulse and LinkedIn teams work to build
future generations of professional content consumption products.
The transaction is valued at approximately $90 million, subject to
adjustment, in a combination of approximately 90 percent stock and
approximately 10 percent cash, and the stock being issued in the transaction
will be done so in a private placement. Subject to the completion of
customary conditions, the acquisition is expected to close during the second
quarter of 2013.
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