Antitrust regulators in the European Union (EU) will make their decision concerning Microsoft’s $7.5 billion acquisition of GitHub on October 19, 2018. As noted in an article by Reuters, Microsoft requested EU approval for the deal on September 14, 2018. Upon approval, the acquisition of GitHub would help shore up Microsoft’s cloud services. GitHub is a development platform that allows you to host and review code, manage products, and build software.
According to Reuters, EU antitrust regulators can either “give the green light with or without demanding concessions, or it can open a full-scale investigation if it has serious concerns.” GitHub is the largest code repository with more than 28 million developers using the platform. The acquisition of GitHub is Microsoft’s biggest purchase since Microsoft bought out LinkedIn for $26 billion in 2016.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella assured GitHub users that GitHub will remain an open platform to developers and will not favor Microsoft products and services over competitors’.