Professional Network Linkedin  has decided to acquire Online Content Hosting and Sharing site Slideshare for $119 Million  in Cash and Shares. The acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of 2012.  The deal has been confirmed by both sides.
Founded in October 2006 by few Indians in California, SlideShare is world’s most popular content sharing platform. It helps professionals discover people through content, and content through people. SlideShare users have uploaded more than nine million presentations, and according to comScore, in March SlideShare had nearly 29 million unique visitors, ranking it among the most heavily trafficked sites for professional content. The company is based in San Francisco, Calif., and is backed by investors including Jonathan Abrams, Mark Cuban, Dave McClure, and Venrock
Slideshare had raised only $3 Million through Funds, while being sold at $119 Millions makes it investors rich by 40 times.
Rashmi Sinha, CEO of SlideShare commented, “We built SlideShare to help professionals share presentations and connect people through content. 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.â€
What does this mean for SlideShare the company? I will continue to run SlideShare and our team will continue to do what we’ve been doing, which is to develop new features and make the site even better. Over time you will see some integrations that take advantage of the great fit between SlideShare and LinkedIn.
SlideShare is also enabling the sharing of presentations across the Web; nearly 7.4 million presentations hosted by SlideShare are embedded across more than 1.4 million unique domains.
“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 LinkedIn CEO Jeff 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. We’re very excited to welcome the SlideShare team to LinkedIn.â€
Deep Nishar, LinkedIn’s Senior Vice President of Product and User Experience, blogged about the acquisition at
Over the past few years, SlideShare and LinkedIn have been working closely together to help professionals be more effective and productive through the content they create and share on LinkedIn. I’ve personally been a huge fan of SlideShare and am thrilled to have such a great, skilled team joining the LinkedIn family.
This acquisition means good things to professionals everywhere. 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. 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.