January 2019
CPI EU News Column edited by Thibault Schrepel, Sam Sadden & Jan Roth (CPI) presents:
Commission Approval For Microsoft’s $7.5 Billion Github Acquisition CASE M.8994 – MICROSOFT / GITHUB By Pim Jansen (Van Doorne N.V.)1
On October 19, 2018, following its phase I investigation, the European Commission (“Commission”) approved the proposed acquisition of GitHub Inc. (“GitHub”) by Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”). This short analysis aims to provide further insight into the Commission’s decision. I will first provide a summary of the relevant facts, followed by a brief overview of the Commission’s reasoning. Afterwards, I will provide some further thoughts on this case.
Essential Facts
On June 4, 2018, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft announced its intention to acquire sole control over San Francisco-based GitHub for USD 7.5 billion in Microsoft stock (the “Transaction”).2 Pursuant to an agreement and plan of merger signed on the same date, GitHub would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft. On September 14, 2018, the proposed concentration was notified to the Commission.
Microsoft is active in the design, development and supply of computer software (including various software development and operations (“DevOps”) tools), hardware devices and related services, cloud-based solutions, online advertising, recruiting, and professional social network services. GitHub is active in the supply of DevOps tools and in
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