Company news in brief

Microsoft's US$7.5 billion GitHub deal set for EU approval US software giant Microsoft is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its US$7.5 billion purchase of privately held coding website GitHub, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday.Microsoft announced the deal in June, its largest acquisition since it bought LinkedIn for US$26 billion in 2016. The GitHub deal is expected to boost the US software giant’s cloud computing business and challenge market leader Amazon.GitHub, the world’s largest code host, has more than 28 million developers using its platform.It will become a part of Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud unit once the acquisition is completed.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.-Nampa/ReutersGoogle drops out of bidding for US$10 billion data dealAlphabet Inc’s Google said on Monday it was no longer vying for a US$10 billion cloud computing contract with the US Defense Department, in part because the company’s new ethical guidelines do not align with the project, without elaborating.Google said in a statement “we couldn’t be assured that would align with our AI Principles and second, we determined that there were portions of the contract that were out of scope with our current government certifications.”The principles bar use of Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) software in weapons as well as services that violate international norms for surveillance and human rights.Google was provisionally certified in March to handle US government data with “moderate” security, but Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp have higher clearances.Amazon was widely viewed among Pentagon officials and technology vendors as the front-runner for the contract, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud, or JEDI.Google had been angling for the deal, hoping that the US$10 billion annual contract could provide a giant boost to its nascent cloud business and catch up with Amazon and fellow JEDI competitor Microsoft.-Nampa/ReutersVolkswagen set to hire four banks for truck unit IPOVolkswagen is close to hiring Citigroup Deutsche Bank Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to help with the potential stock market listing of its truck unit Traton, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.Volkswagen said last month that Traton should by year-end be in shape for a potential stock market listing, which is expected to take place in mid-2019.VW plans to convert Traton’s legal structure to a Societas Europaea (SE) and to shortly mandate investment banks and legal advisers for a possible initial public offering, Volkswagen said at the time.VW, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Officials at Citi were not immediately available for comment.Bloomberg earlier on Monday reported that the banks were likely to be mandated for the IPO.-Nampa/ReutersFacebook debuts smart speaker for Messenger video callsFacebook Inc on Monday released a smart speaker designed to ease video calls, but the company’s history of privacy mishaps and the device’s price and limited functionality could slow it from taking on market leaders Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.The device, known as Portal, comes in US$199 and US$349 versions and its signature feature is a wide-angle camera that automatically keeps users in focus as they move about a room, Facebook hardware executives told Reuters in a meeting last week.They said Portal is available at Amazon and Best Buy stores in addition to Facebook.com and starts shipping to US customers in early November.Smart speakers costing under US$100 from Amazon and Google have become best sellers in the nascent industry. Users issue voice commands to search, shop and listen to music, turning the speakers into a major funnel into the technology companies’ competing networks.Portal could help Facebook stop users from flocking to rival chat and video apps on other speakers and give it a new, wholly controlled environment to sell ads.About 32% of US consumers own a smart speaker, but another 16% plan to buy one by the end of 2018, according to an Adobe Analytics survey released last month.Facebook expects to stand apart on the market because of Portal’s touchscreen and the 400 million people who call through its Messenger service each month worldwide. Rival smart speakers with screens lack a video-chatting app that is as popular.-Nampa/ReutersStarbucks taps Hyatt financial chief Starbucks Corp on Monday named Hyatt Hotels Corp’s financial chief Patrick Grismer as its new chief financial officer, making another leadership change in the past year as it battles intense competition in a cooling US coffee market.Grismer’s appointment completes a three-month search for a new finance chief since current CFO Scott Maw announced plans to retire in June.Maw’s announcement coincided with executive chairman and former Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz’s departure from the company, who built Starbucks into a global powerhouse over four decades.-Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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Company news in brief

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