openAdmin
09-03-2009, 04:45 AM
Ebay (http://www.opensourcegroups.com/www.ebay.com) announced that it is selling its Skype (http://www.opensourcegroups.com/www.skype.com) unit to a private investor group, that includes Silver Lake , Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board . Thirty five percent of the Internet telephony service will still be retained by Ebay.
Ebay admitted that it was not able to realise its original plans to utilize Skype as a real time tool for its customers when sealing online deals .It had acquired Ebay back in 2005 for $2.6 billion.In 2007, eBay said it would take a $900 million impairment writedown against Skype's value signifying that it had already incurred a loss from its investment. Then in April, eBay announced plans to spin off Skype, with an IPO in the first half of next year. Rumors were also afloat that Skype's founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis might repurchase the company.
"Skype is a strong standalone business, but it does not have synergies with our e-commerce and online payments businesses," eBay President and CEO John Donahoe said in a statement Tuesday. "As a separate company, we believe that Skype will have the focus required to compete effectively in online voice and video communications and accelerate its growth momentum."
Meanwhile open source vendors are viewing Skype with renewed vigor, eager to develop applications and services compatible with the Skype platform while hoping that the acquisition would open up new opportunities . Digium (http://www.opensourcegroups.com/www.digium.com), the developer of Asterisk, has come out with a production version Skype for Asterisk and FreeSWITCH (http://www.opensourcegroups.com/www.freeswitch.org), an alternative VoIP solution, has announced that its August update supports Skype. If Skype becomes less proprietary sans Ebay, this is probably just the beginning.
Ebay admitted that it was not able to realise its original plans to utilize Skype as a real time tool for its customers when sealing online deals .It had acquired Ebay back in 2005 for $2.6 billion.In 2007, eBay said it would take a $900 million impairment writedown against Skype's value signifying that it had already incurred a loss from its investment. Then in April, eBay announced plans to spin off Skype, with an IPO in the first half of next year. Rumors were also afloat that Skype's founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis might repurchase the company.
"Skype is a strong standalone business, but it does not have synergies with our e-commerce and online payments businesses," eBay President and CEO John Donahoe said in a statement Tuesday. "As a separate company, we believe that Skype will have the focus required to compete effectively in online voice and video communications and accelerate its growth momentum."
Meanwhile open source vendors are viewing Skype with renewed vigor, eager to develop applications and services compatible with the Skype platform while hoping that the acquisition would open up new opportunities . Digium (http://www.opensourcegroups.com/www.digium.com), the developer of Asterisk, has come out with a production version Skype for Asterisk and FreeSWITCH (http://www.opensourcegroups.com/www.freeswitch.org), an alternative VoIP solution, has announced that its August update supports Skype. If Skype becomes less proprietary sans Ebay, this is probably just the beginning.