Microsoft has been trying to snag GitHub for some time now, and the two tech companies seemed to reach a final purchase agreement back in June. However, as anybody who follows this industry knows, a company as large as Microsoft is bound to be placed under intense regulatory scrutiny when it attempts to purchase another tech giant.
Indeed, the European Commission has spent the past month-and-change investigating the terms of Microsoft's GitHub deal, attempting to determine whether or not the transaction would be anti-competitive. Today, their investigation concluded, and it seems the Commission doesn't believe there's anything to worry about - as it announced in a press release today, the regulatory body has approved Microsoft's purchase of GitHub "unconditionally."
The European Commission says the "merged entity" Microsoft and GitHub would consist of post-acquisition would not pose a significant antitrust threat, because it would still face "significant competition" from other companies in related markets.
The Commission also touched on fears that Microsoft may try to exert control over GitHub's open nature, twisting the platform to sell its own DevOps tools and cloud services.
"The market investigation confirmed that Microsoft would not have the market power [to undermine] the open nature of GitHub," The Commission's press release reads. "This is because such behaviour would reduce the value of GitHub for developers, who are willing and able to switch to other platforms."
In other words, the European Commission feels GitHub's developers are savvy enough to move their projects over to a competing platform if necessary; the platform doesn't seem to hold the same sway over them that, say, Facebook or Twitter does for many internet users.