Where next for LinkedIn?

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That, combined with the fervent shopping speculation that surrounds pretty much any social networking site of note in the current climate has resulted in, inevitably, takeover talk.

But just who would be interested in buying LinkedIn up?

Suitors

It's perhaps little surprise that one of the first names to be mentioned has been Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. In spite of the fact that it already owns MySpace, the group has nonetheless been linked regularly with other social networking properties, LinkedIn included. And so at the back end of 2007, it was strongly reported that News Corporation was preparing a bid in the region of a massive $1 billion (ï500 million). That's a staggering amount of money for a service that, while profitable, isn't that profitable. However, it is indicative of a market belief of the long term value of a popular social networking service on a firm's asset register.

Given some of the respected brands in the Murdoch stable, the Wall Street Journal being the latest, there's some degree of logical fit for LinkedIn within the group. However, thus far nothing has come to pass, and instead, rumours persist that Murdoch's companies are hard at work on a LinkedIn rival of their own, using the MySpace technology as a starting point. One way or another, we should find out within the next month or so.

Don't discount the usual suspects, either. While there hasn't been direct word associating the likes of Yahoo and Microsoft (before the former became subject to a takeover bid by the latter) with a purchase, both are believed to be sniffing out any potential social networking opportunities. That said, LinkedIn is perhaps a more logical fit for an existing media company than a web or computing specialist, and especially one with a relatively high-brow audience.

What ultimately differentiates LinkedIn again from many of the alternative social networking services is that there's a strong likelihood that its management team would seek to maximise the current price of the service. Or more bluntly: that they're more likely to consider a sale for their company. There's been no strong rejection statement, no recent mention on LinkedIn's company blog, instead a wall of silence in response to the ongoing rumours. This has further fuelled the rumour mill, which has been suggesting that LinkedIn may turn out to be the first major transaction of its ilk of 2008.

Certainly the murmurings are that something will come about in January and February, given LinkedIn's supposed openness to a deal. In short, LinkedIn isn't so much vulnerable to takeover, as some of the inclusions in this series have been. Instead, it may actively be seeking a deal, and looking to sell the business while it still remains a seller's market.

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