back to article Skype's the limit for eBay: Voip biz sold to private investors

It’s official - eBay has offloaded a majority stake in Skype to a gaggle of investors in a deal that values the VoIP outfit at $2.75bn. eBay keeps a 35 per cent stake in Skype. The online auction giant will get $1.9bn in cash. eBay offered to buy Skype for $2.6bn in 2005. But when earnouts were included eBay actually paid …

COMMENTS

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  1. Ian Michael Gumby

    It just goes to show you...

    There's a sucker born every minute.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Grenade

    Suckers?

    Well for an outfit that depends on suckers for its primary business I wonder how it feels to be on the other side of the coin?

  3. Paw Bokenfohr
    Badgers

    Suckers as primary business?

    I've shopped around extensively for my calling needs (with a dispersed family I need to call several countries regularly) and Skype is pretty good as far as costs go, and very reliable. I use them along with Sipgate, and I've found the service to be very good overall. Not perfect, but then, what is?

    Now, as for the investors being suckers, I'm not a venture capitalist, so I can't judge that one. Surely, if you're a venture capitalist, you must get "it" right more often than not, or you'd be broke, so only time will tell on that one I think.

  4. Matt2012
    Thumb Up

    looks good for ebay

    Hold on if i get this right they've sold 2/3rds of their stake in a downturn for roughly what they paid for that 2/3rds in a boom. Therefore reducing their exposure whilst still holding onto a big enough share if it all come good - sounds like a good deal for ebay to me.

  5. bertie bassett
    Pint

    what about the IPR

    No mention of the IPR issue - didn't Zennstrom / Frijs claim to have not sold the IPR when they did the original deal, can't imagine VC's would like that...

    C'mon reg tell us the whole story..

  6. Jay 2
    Stop

    Silver Lake Vultures

    Having been employed by a company once aquired by Silver Lake Partners (amongst others) then I can expect Skype to get no further funding and to go through some rather drastic cost cutting. Then with a bit of a positive spin they'll flog it off to someone else for lots more money and be laughing all the way to wherever they store all their cash.

    Or that's my experience of them, and I'm sure Seagate has suffered along the same lines.

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