LinkedIn has announced a $118.75 million deal to buy a SlideShare service for online hosting of PowerPoint, Keynote and other presentations. Word of the deal was released as the Silicon Valley company reported net income of $5 million on revenue that doubled to $188.5 million in the first three months of this year.
“SlideShare and LinkedIn have been working closely together to help professionals be more effective and productive through the content they create and share,” said LinkedIn senior vice president Deep Nishar. “We’re excited to figure out the best ways our offerings will work together to help professionals around the world be more productive and successful.”
Based in San Francisco and New Delhi, SlideShare was launched about five years ago and has 29 million monthly users. SlideShare co-founder Rashmi Sinha said in a blog post that the service would continue unabated. “Over time you will see some integrations that take advantage of the great fit between SlideShare and LinkedIn,” Sinha said.
“I firmly believe that SlideShare will grow faster with LinkedIn. We like the path they are on, and are excited to join them on this journey,” Sinha added. LinkedIn will pay 45 percent of the SlideShare purchase price in cash, with the balance in the form of stock. The deal was expected to close by the middle of this year.
