EU antitrust regulators to issue decision on Microsoft's GitHub acquisition by October 19

Microsoft could receive the green light from EU antitrust regulators on its purchase of GitHub in mid-October. According to a report from Reuters, the EU has set a deadline of October 19 to make its decision on whether to approve Microsoft's $7.5 billion acquisition or investigate further.

Microsoft announced in June that it had agreed to acquire GitHub, which operates as a development platform for some 28 million developers around the world. In announcing the acquisition, Microsoft stated that GitHub would continue to operate independently, with Microsoft Corporate Vice President Nat Friedman taking on the role of CEO.

"GitHub will retain its developer-first ethos and will operate independently to provide an open platform for all developers in all industries," Microsoft said. "Developers will continue to be able to use the programming languages, tools and operating systems of their choice for their projects — and will still be able to deploy their code to any operating system, any cloud and any device."

Obtaining the approval of the EU's antitrust regulators is essential to the deal's success. Microsoft initially stated that it expected the deal to close by the end of the year, following the usual round of regulatory review. Ultimately, regulators could greenlight the deal with our without demanding concessions, or opt to initiate a more thorough investigation.