BDO Digital Reacts to Microsoft Beating Google in GitHub Bidding Contest

Microsoft buys coding platform GitHub for $7.5 billion, beating out Google in a bidding competition. The software giant proved to be the best choice for GitHub because of its enterprise reach, as well as some natural synergies.

You have to look at the other assets they have and see how this asset plugs into those. Microsoft's $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn in 2016 creates interesting opportunities down the road for advancing the larger Microsoft ecosystem. The combination of Lynda.com, a learning tools platform bought by LinkedIn, and LinkedIn career development capabilities, with GitHub's open source repository could attract a new generation of software professionals entering the workforce into Microsoft's ecosystem.

-Ric Opal, BDO Digital

Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, was simultaneously talking to GitHub in the weeks prior to Microsoft's deal, but Microsoft prevailed, paying a 25-times multiple on GitHub's $300 million annual revenue. GitHub CEO Chris Wanstrath's relationship with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was another factor in Microsoft securing the deal over its cloud rival.

It's a boon for their cloud. It is also a significant opportunity if they tie the other assets—professional development tools and open source.

-Ric Opal, BDO Digital

Visit CRN to read the full article: "Google Was Bidding Against Microsoft For GitHub"