LinkedIn is close to acquiring Pulse, a popular news reading app, for as much as $100 million, according to a new report. Citing unnamed sources, AllThingsD reported that Pulse had been in acquisition talks with several big companies, including Yahoo and Microsoft, but that LinkedIn won out. The publication has since heard that the deal is set to be for between $50 million and $100 million, and talks between the two companies are said to be “nearly complete.” Though it might sound like an odd pairing at first, LinkedIn has doubled down on content in recent years. The professional social network launched a news hub in early 2011 and has recently been ramping up its own original content by recruiting celebrities and thinkers to blog as part of the LinkedIn Influencers program.
