Wall St. Speaks Out on LinkedIn Acquisition of Lynda.com - BMO, Dan Salmon / Jeffrey Silber

LinkedIn will acquire Lynda.com, an online learning company that helps its users improve job skills through online video tutorials. The deal is valued at $1.5B (52% in cash, 48% in stock) and is expected to close in late 2Q15. The price implies a ~10x multiple of Lynda's $150 mm of 2014 revenue, which is growing at a mid-20% range, with 70% gross margins and an adjusted EBITDA margin in the 5-10% range.