MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 10 (UPI) -- Professional networking giant LinkedIn has announced it will purchase the skills-oriented educational and training video distributor Lynda.com for $1.5 billion.
With the purchase, LinkedIn obtains one of the industry leaders in professional training and instructional videos -- which the Mountain View, Calif., company plans to turn around and market to its nearly 350 million users.
Acquiring Lynda.com also fits into LinkedIn's ongoing strategy to invite users to spend more time on their site -- beyond polishing their resume and searching for jobs, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Founded in 1995, Lynda.com offers a wide range of valuable career skills to prospective employees -- including certification -- which experts say should bolster LinkedIn's recruiting pedigree. The career networking site, in addition to hosting users' profiles, works with recruiters to identify prospective candidates.
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LinkedIn users are currently able to display a list of skills on their profile, which can be vouched for by any and all of their acquaintances, but without certification there is really no way for employers to know with certainty whether a candidate really possesses a given skill. Certification via Lynda.com might shore up that particular aspect of the candidate searching process.
Lynda.com borrows its name from Lynda Weinman -- one half of a husband and wife team who founded the company to offer specialized training to persons with lean technical qualifications. Over 20 years, the company has built a collection of more than 6,000 courses and nearly 270,000 instructional videos that subscribers pay to access.
"What has always made lynda a special company is a relentless focus on producing really high-quality content," Lynda.com board member Andrew Braccia said. "Content has become more important to LinkedIn over the last year."
Lynda.com content makes it possible "for anybody to easily and effectively acquire a skill needed to get their first job, get a promotion, land a business deal or advance their career," LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said.
LinkedIn's purchase price of $1.5 billion will be made in cash and stock, officials said.
The Wall Street Journal report said that nearly $750 million was invested in American training and educational startups, like Lynda.com, last year and the overall market for e-learning is expected to hit $107 billion in revenue this year.
Based on estimations made earlier this year, LinkedIn is acquiring Lynda.com at a 50% premium above its valued worth.
