Microsoft is set to acquire leading software development platform GitHub for $7.5 billion in stock.
The deal should close by the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory review.
“Microsoft is a developer-first company, and by joining forces with GitHub we strengthen our commitment to developer freedom, openness and innovation,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Both Nadella and current GitHub CEO Chris Wanstrath stressed that GitHub has to and will remain open. GitHub is the ‘home’ of developers around the world. During a conference call this morning, Microsoft’s corporate vice president Nat Friedman said that GitHub is where developers go to be developers.
“GitHub is stronger the bigger it is,” he said. Friedman will be taking over as CEO of GitHub when the deal goes through. He also stressed that GitHub will remain independent and continue its commitment to openness. That means anyone can use it with any language, any cloud service for any project.
Wanstrath will be moving over to Microsoft to take on the role of technical fellow. He’ll be reporting to executive vice president Scott Guthrie. Technical fellow is a high-level advisory role. Wanstrath said in this morning’s conference call that he’s excited for the role. He’ll be working with Guthrie on strategic software initiatives.
Microsoft’s CFO Amy Hood expects both the U.S. and the E.U. to approve the purchase by the end of the year.
Additionally, Nadella said that every company is becoming a software company. The need for a developer community like GitHub is present and growing.
GitHub is the world’s most popular platform for open source projects and software innovation. Additionally, Microsoft is one of the biggest users with some 15,000 contributors to its projects.
Microsoft also wants to see increased use of GitHub at the enterprise level. Furthermore, Microsoft is bringing all its developers tools to the GitHub marketplace.
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