The deal will give Microsoft access to LinkedIn’s 430m members worldwide with some industry analysts predicting Microsoft will be wanting to integrate these into its products such as Office, Exchange and Outlook.

However Microsoft said LinkedIn will retain its brand, culture and independence, with Jeff Weiner (pictured, left) remaining CEO and now reporting into Satya Nadella (pictured, middle), CEO of Microsoft.

Nadella said: "The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centred on connecting the world’s professionals. Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics.

Microsoft cited the activity LinkedIn had been involved in during the past year including launching a new version of its mobile app; improving the LinkedIn news-feed to deliver better business insights; acquiring online learning platform Lynda.com and rolling out a new version of its Recruiter product to its enterprise customers. 

The deal has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both LinkedIn and Microsoft and is expected to close this calendar year subject to approval by LinkedIn’s shareholders and regulatory bodies.