Among many technology corporations, Microsoft is one big name. Furthermore, this American multinational technology corporation was founded on April 4, 1975. It produces computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, etc. In such a long span, it has acquired 202 companies and invested in 132 others. It has also made vast investments in a plethora of fields. Cybersecurity, corporate collaboration, and PC & console gaming are to name a few. Today, we are here to discuss Microsoft’s acquisitions and mergers. From 1987 to 2023, Microsoft Corporation has acquired a hold on several acquisitions. Read on to learn about the most important ones.
1. Forethought
The journey of Microsoft’s acquisition and mergers began with its purchase of Forethought. Consequently, back n July 30, 1987, Microsoft purchased Forethought paying $14 million [$33.4 million in present-day terms] for Forethought Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. Furthermore, later it came out as the developer of what is now Microsoft PowerPoint.
2. Hotmail.com
Hotmail was the creation of Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith. It is as old as 1996. In addition, Microsoft paid $500 million for Hotmail.com on December 31, 1997. Therefore, eventually, it was relaunched as MSN Hotmail. This was Microsoft’s greatest acquisition of the era.
3. Visio Corporation
The next on the list of Microsoft’s acquisitions and mergers is Seattle-based Visio Corporation. On January 7, 2000, Microsoft paid about $1.375 billion to get its hand on it. Furthermore, Visio went public in 1995 after it was formed as Axon Corporation in 1990. Therefore, it was merged into Microsoft’s line of products as Microsoft Visio.
4. Navision
In order to buy Navision, Microsoft paid $1.33 billion. Furthermore, it was on July 12, 2002, when this happened. Microsoft Navision is the old name for Dynamics NAV (which is now known as Dynamics 365 Business Central). Microsoft built it in order to aid business management.
5. aQuantive
aQuantive is another acquisition purchased by Microsoft back on August 13, 2007. Furthermore, for this Seattle-based advertising technology, Microsoft paid a total of $6.333 billion. In addition, what is interesting to note is that it was ranked 14th in the world when it came to revenue among advertising firms.
6. Skype Technologies
Microsoft paid $8.5 billion to acquire Skype Technologies. This was done back on May 10, 2011. Although it was a huge failure, the transaction was Microsoft’s greatest acquisition at the time.
7. Nokia’s Mobile Hardware Division
In September 2013, Microsoft got its hand on Nokia’s mobile hardware division. They used to create devices based on its Windows Phone platform. Furthermore, to say that Nokia and Microsoft had long-standing cooperation would be a sheer understatement.
8. Mojang
Mojang is a game developer responsible for the “Minecraft” franchise. Microsoft got its hand on it back in September 2014 for $2.5 billion.
9. LinkedIn
The next biggest acquisition of Microsoft was LinkedIn. Furthermore, Microsoft purchased it back on June 13, 2016, for $26.2 billion.
10. GitHub
Microsoft acquired code-repository service company GitHub on June 4, 2018. Furthermore, it paid $7.5 billion for this famous software code repository.
11. Zenimax Media
The next on the list of Microsoft’s acquisitions and mergers is Zenimax Media. Microsoft purchased Zenimax Media back on September 21, 2020, for $7.5 billion. Furthermore, what is interesting to note is that ZeniMax was the largest, privately held game developer and publisher in the world at the time of the acquisition.
12. Activision Blizzard
Back on January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash. Furthermore, it is an American video game company. In addition, what is noteworthy is that this is Microsoft’s greatest purchase to date.
Microsoft’s Most Expensive Acquisition Could Be For $69 Billion
On February 7, 2023, Microsoft announced a deal to buy video game developer Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. It is safe to say that it is a big bet on the future of video games. Currently, Microsoft is attempting to persuade regulators around the world to clear its most significant deal of $69 Billion. Furthermore, will this acquisition proposal be successful or not is worth seeing.
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