LinkedIn said in a statement on Thursday that the acquisition is expected to be final by second quarter this year.
Slideshare is a content sharing community which was founded in 2006 and allows users to upload files publically or privately. The site supports file formats such as Keynote, PDF, PowerPoint and OpenOffice presentations.
More than nine million presentations have been uploaded to Slideshare and in March comScore reported the site had almost 29 million unique visitors.
Linkedin’s CEO, Jeff Weiner believes that presentations are a vital part of the professional community.
"Presentations are one of the main ways in which professionals capture and share their experiences and knowledge, which in turn helps shape their professional identity," said Weiner.
"These presentations also enable professionals to discover new connections and gain the insights they need to become more productive and successful in their careers, aligning perfectly with LinkedIn’s mission and helping us deliver even more value for our members," said Weiner. "We’re very excited to welcome the SlideShare team to LinkedIn."
Slideshare’s CEO Rashni Sinha says that the acquisition of the company by LinkedIn is a natural move.
"We built SlideShare to help professionals share presentations and connect people through content," said Sinha. "What we can build with LinkedIn, the largest professional network on the Internet, is the most natural extension of this vision. I am excited about what we can build together."
Deep Nishar, Linkedin’s Senior VP of Product and User experience says the acquisition will help the productivity and success of professionals.
"This acquisition means good things to professionals everywhere," Nishar said in a blog. "Presentations are a core component of how professionals define and brand their identity. This deal enables professionals to discover people through content, and content through people."
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