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"Today Microsoft announced that its acquisition of Yammer has finished its final closing\u00A0conditions. The deal is now complete. The $1.2 billion purchase was widely seen as a defensive move to ensure that Microsoft did not fall behind in the productivity space.\r\n\r\nIn its post, Microsoft stated that it &amp;quot;couldn\u2019t be more pleased to welcome&amp;quot; Yammer to its Office team. What level of autonomy the new purchase will be allowed is an open, and important question. Skype, for example, another recent acquisition, has been given a long leash. Former Microsoft purchases were not. aQuantive, for example, a multi-billion dollar pick up, flopped publicly after being held too tight.\r\n\r\nYammer, in its blog post also announcing the finalization of the deal, today stated that it is &amp;quot;thrilled to start this new chapter and join forces with Microsoft.&amp;quot; The company went to praise how the deal will allow it to &amp;quot;massively accelerate&amp;quot; its vision. Microsoft has name dropped Yammer in recent speeches, underscoring its desire to own the entity.\r\n\r\nIt also alluded to how it will fit into its owners new home: &amp;quot;Under Microsoft, Yammer will remain a stand-alone product with a freemium business model.&amp;quot; It did, however, promise that links between it and other Office division products would be coming down the pike.\r\n\r\nTop Image Credit:\u00A0Robert Scoble"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2012/07/19/its-official-microsofts-yammer-acquisition-has-been-completed/?awesm=tnw.to_h248>