EBay to buy Skype

billions, yes billions

EBay said it plans to pay $1.3 billion in cash and $1.3 billion in stock for the Web communications company. It would make a further payout of up to $1.5 billion by 2008 or 2009 if financial targets are met, giving the deal a total value of up to $4.1 billion, executives of the two companies said.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=OBR&Date=20050912&ID=5102207

 

I'm not convinced they'll pull it off. Skype executives have been adament not selling.

 

Confirmed now. Ebay bought Skype for 2.6 billion dollar (plus up to 1.5 billion depending on the future success of Skype).

Thats a lot of money

 

Online auction site eBay has agreed to buy internet telephone company Skype Technologies in a $2.6bn (£1.4bn) deal.

eBay said it would pay half the amount in cash and the other half in stocks to create "an unparalleled e-commerce and communications engine".

Skype's software lets PC users talk to each other for free and make cut-price calls to mobiles and landlines.

Other players in the online phone market include computer giants such as Google, Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo.

Google recently launched its Talk service, while Microsoft purchased leading player Teleo for an undisclosed sum.

Technology used by Skype, and rivals such as Vonage, converts phone conversations into packets of data and transmits them down the same wires used to surf the internet.

'Powerful environment'

"Communications is at the heart of e-commerce and community," said eBay chief executive Meg Whitman.

"By combining the two leading e-commerce franchises, eBay and PayPal, with the leader in internet voice communications, we will create an extraordinarily powerful environment for business on the net."

Skype webpage
Internet telephony is picking up momentum

The company said the move would "strengthen eBay's global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business".

Skype chief executive Niklas Zennstrom, who will join eBay's senior management team, said the deal would help "revolutionise the ease with which people can communicate through the internet".

Using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, computer users can talk to each other via a headset or microphone and speakers.

Cheap calls to landlines and mobile phones are also possible. Some systems allow users to plug their traditional phones into a desktop box that allows them to make VoIP calls.

Growth market?

Skype has 53 million registered users and says more than two million people are using its software at any given moment.

Since it was introduced in 2003, the free program has been downloaded more than 151 million times.

The company does not release earnings figures.

Vonage, the largest internet phone company, has nearly one million subscribers who pay a monthly fee of $25 to use it.

eBay has been buying up firms - including payment system PayPal - in an effort to increase the number of services it offers consumers and keep its profits growing.

Media reports have speculated that as well as looking to tap into the growing internet phone market, eBay is also attracted by the idea of letting its buyers and sellers talk to each other via their computers.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4237338.stm

 

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=28190

 

OK I guess I'd reconsider for 2.6bn as well

Bollocks to it though, I liked Skype and am sure it'll get messed up with eBay in charge.

 

I hope they dont turn Skype into a paid only service or something like that!

 

If they did there be like 2 days before they had five new free services to compete with. The tech behind Skype isn't rocket science anymore so the only reason they don't have any serious contenders is that they're still free.

Expect to see a lot of new "paid for" services though.

 

If ebay get skype there will be no free service, IMO

 

If they make it paid it would loose all of its promotion. They do have services in which are extra and thats where the money is. If they charge for PC to PC, they will soon enough get replaced by underdogs like googletalk or 100 other alternatives on the market for the same service.