George S. May Business Blog

Skype finally sold by eBay — Online seller gets $1.9 billion

In a deal that was not long ago presumed to be heading to the paper shredder, eBay has announced that they have succesfully completed their previously announced sale of Skype communications. I personally am happy to see this happen. It seems as though before eBay swooped them up in 2005,  Skype was leading the pack when it came to innovation in their field. Since eBay took control Skype has seemed to be treading water.

Press Release from eBay’s website:

San Jose, Calif. – Nov. 19, 2009 – eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) announced today that it has successfully completed the previously announced sale of its Skype communications unit in a deal valuing the business at $2.75 billion. The buyer, who will control an approximately 70 percent stake, is an investor group led by Silver Lake and includes Joltid Limited and certain affiliated parties, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz.

eBay received approximately $1.9 billion in cash and a note from the buyer in the principal amount of $125 million. The company retained an approximately 30 percent equity investment in Skype. The company also purchased a note from the buyer in the principal amount of $50 million.

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