GitHub, a San Francisco-based startup, provides a global platform that more than 28 million developers use to share code and work together on open source projects. Microsoft said that the all-stock deal will accelerate enterprise use of GitHub while still giving developers access to the platform they love.
According to Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, privately-held GitHub will retain its “developer-first ethos” and will operate independently to provide an open platform for all developers across all industries.
[Related: GitHub Adds To Online Service Capabilities In A Bid For Business Developers]
“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,” Microsoft said in its official statement announcing the deal.
Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President Nat Friedman, the founder of former mobile app development platform Xamarin, a company that was acquired by Microsoft in 2016, will become GitHub’s new CEO. GitHub’s current CEO, Chris Wanstrath, will become a Microsoft technical fellow and will report to Microsoft’s Executive Vice President Scott Guthrie.
“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 in a statement. “We recognize the community responsibility we take on with this agreement and will do our best work to empower every developer to build, innovate and solve the world’s most pressing challenges.”
Reports surfaced Friday that Microsoft had resumed talks to buy GitHub.
Sources close to both companies told Business Insider last week that Microsoft has been considering an acquisition for a few years, but negotiations have been on and off until now.
GitHub was valued at $2 billion during its last funding round in 2015.
The deal is subject to regulatory review and the two companies expect the transaction to close by the end of 2018.
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