Handful of Advisers Behind Microsoft’s Deal for LinkedIn

Photo The headquarters of Morgan Stanley in New York. Credit Mike Segar/Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft's $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn is one of the biggest and most prominent technology deals of the year so far.

Yet it will provide a windfall to just a handful of advisers — including the boutique investment banks on LinkedIn's side.

Microsoft drew on two traditional advisers. Morgan Stanley, one of the top investment banks in Silicon Valley, has often worked for companies selling themselves to the tech giant, including the digital ad company aQuantive and the voice recognition provider TellMe Networks. But the bank was also one of Microsoft's main advisers in its ill-fated pursuit of Yahoo nearly a decade ago.

Video Microsoft & LinkedIn C.E.O.s on Deal

Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn said that they began talking in earnest about their $26.2 billion cash deal in February.

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The law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has long advised Microsoft on a number of transactions, including its acquisitions of Skype and Nokia's handset and services business.

LinkedIn, however, drew on boutique investment banks to dispense advice on its sale.

Qatalyst, founded by the veteran deal maker Frank Quattrone, has long been a go-to for tech companies looking to sell themselves. Among them: the streaming site Twitch, which was sold to Amazon for $1 billion; the blogging site Tumblr, sold to Yahoo for about $1 billion; and the travel site Orbitz, sold to Expedia for about $1.3 billion.

The investment bank Allen & Co mpany has long counted LinkedIn as a client, dating back to the social network's initial public offering in 2011. LinkedIn's co-founder, Reid Hoffman, and its chief executive, Jeff Weiner, are mainstays of the boutique investment bank's annual media and technology conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, mingling with the likes of Rupert Murdoch and Larry Page of Alphabet.

The law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, which provided legal counsel to LinkedIn, had previously advised the social network on its $1.5 billion takeover of the online learning company Lynda.com.

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Source: Handful of Advisers Behind Microsoft's Deal for LinkedIn