LinkedIn Buys Pulse Newsreader For $90 Million

LinkedIn announced its acquisition of Pulse Newsreader on Thursday for $90 million in cash and stocks. The transaction was 90 percent stock and 10 percent cash. The announcement is not a shock, as there were rumors of talks between the two companies for more than two weeks.

LinkedIn stated that purchasing Pulse will help the site “be the definitive professional publishing platform — where all professionals come to consume content and where publishers come to share their content.” The Pulse service currently has about 30 million users in more than 190 countries, though its base is in the United States.

The Pulse Newsreader app collects news articles from several different topics chosen by the user. It then presents them to the reader in a clean and stylish format that is easy to use. The app rose to the top of Apple’s App Store a few years ago and quickly became a favorite among newsreaders.

Pulse joins the LinkedIn Family pulse.me/linkedin

— Pulse (@pulsepad) April 11, 2013

The company’s nearly 30 million users read more than 10 million stories each day. The purchase of Pule is yet another step toward LinkedIn’s goal of becoming an online content powerhouse. While Twitter and Facebook have sought to become more and more media friendly though the purchases of Instagram, Vine, and We Are Hunted, LinkedIn has taken a different approach.

The massive social network has aimed itself at becoming a publishing platform for business executives and entrepreneurs to share their ideas and experiences. The network has grown from a simple resume service for recruiters and professionals to pushing original and partner content and keeping its users engaged on a regular basis.

While Pulse has dabbled in social media by adding some social features to its apps, it is likely the acquisition by LinkedIn will have the newsreader startup putting a stronger focus on this soon.