EU antitrust ruling on Microsoft buy of GitHub due by October 19

[September 17, 2018]  BURSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators will decide by Oct. 19 whether to clear U.S. software giant Microsoft's $7.5 billion acquisition of privately held coding website GitHub.

A Microsoft store is pictured in New York City, New York, U.S., August 21, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

Microsoft, which wants to acquire the firm to reinforce its cloud computing business against rival Amazon, requested European Union approval for the deal last Friday, a filing on the European Commission website showed on Monday.

The EU competition enforcer can either give the green light with or without demanding concessions, or it can open a full-scale investigation if it has serious concerns.

GitHub, the world's largest code host with more than 28 million developers using its platform, is Microsoft's largest takeover since the company bought LinkedIn for $26 billion in 2016.

Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella has tried to assuage users' worries that GitHub might favor Microsoft products over competitors after the deal, saying GitHub would continue to be an open platform that works with all public clouds.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Edmund Blair)

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