LinkedIn Corp., the professional social networking website, is reportedly looking for a new international headquarters in Dublin as it hopes to expand its foreign operations.
Insiders reportedly told Bloomberg that the company was already working with IDA Ireland, a popular government agency, to lease about 160,000 square feet of office space in the capital city.
LinkedIn opened a global headquarters in Dublin in 2010. At the time, the company said it would be handling its international operations from the city, working with neighboring hubs in London and Netherlands, according to Silicon Republic.
The 2010 deal was also done with IDA Ireland. Chief executive of IDA Barry O'Leary said in an earlier statement:
"This is an endorsement that Ireland can satisfy the needs of highly innovative and technologically advanced companies as they make critical investments. It demonstrates the advantages Ireland continues to offer global multinational companies and fits neatly with the type of service innovation investment identified by IDA in its recently published strategy Horizon 2020."
Kevin Eyres, managing director of LinkedIn, also told the publication that setting up a base in Dublin would give the company the required workforce and aid growth across the European region and beyond.
LinkedIn employs more than 450 people in Dublin. In 2011, the company added 100 new jobs to its customer service, finance and operations departments.
Ireland has now reportedly become the "Internet Capital of Europe," according to O'Leary, who also noted that Dublin now hosts five of the top tech companies in the world, including Facebook, Google and eBay.
"Dublin is now host to a major global tech cluster and IDA works continuously with a wide range of companies on potential opportunities available to their operations in Dublin," IDA Ireland wrote in an e-mail to Bloomberg.
News of LinkedIn's expansion comes at a time when the office and commercial real estate market is seeing an upsurge. According to a January Jones Lang LaSalle report, leasing activity in Dublin remained strong in the fourth quarter of 2014 with a 68 percent increase in take-ups. Demand for office spaces in the city saw a tremendous increase with 78 percent of occupiers opting for spaces measuring 10,000 square feet or more.
LinkedIn traces its roots to Mountain View, Calif., where it has an office complete with gaming rooms, gym facilities and a "wall-climbing" area.
Take a tour of the California office of LinkedIn here.
