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"Microsoft sought EU antitrust approval on Friday for its $26 billion bid for social network LinkedIn \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tlnkd\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t, a spokesman said on Friday, kicking off a month-long review by regulators of its largest deal.\n&amp;#8220;We filed today,&amp;#8221; company spokesman Robin Koch said.\nHe said the European Commission has set a Nov. 22 deadline to examine the case. The EU competition authority can either clear the deal with or without concessions or it can open a lengthy investigation if it has serious concerns.\nU.S. software company Salesforce \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tcrm\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t has criticized the takeover, saying it threatens innovation and competition.\nGet Data Sheet, Fortune\u2019s technology newsletter\nMicrosoft \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tmsft\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t is expected to say that there is more than enough competition from Facebook \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tfb\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t and social networks on smartphones.\nAntitrust regulators in the United States, Canada, and Brazil have already cleared the deal."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://fortune.com/2016/10/14/microsoft-linkedin-eu/>