US tech giant Microsoft has announced plans to acquire Luxembourg-based VoIP operator Skype from its PE owners for US$8.5bn.
Skype is being advised by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, while Microsoft has not hired an adviser. The companies expect the deal…
US tech giant Microsoft has announced plans to acquire Luxembourg-based VoIP operator Skype from its PE owners for US$8.5bn.
Skype is being advised by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, while Microsoft has not hired an adviser. The companies expect the deal will gain regulatory clearance during the course of this calendar year.
“Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a statement.
Skype CEO Tony Bates will become president of a new Microsoft Skype Division under the plan, reporting directly to Ballmer.
Bates said: “Microsoft and Skype share the vision of bringing software innovation and products to our customers.
“Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype’s plans to extend our global community and introduce new ways for everyone to communicate and collaborate.”
Rumours of potential ‘partnerships’ have recently been hounding Skype, which filed intentions to list to the US Securities & Exchange Commission in August 2010.
The IPO had reportedly been placed on hold while the company held partnership talks with US internet behemoths Facebook and Google.
Earlier this month, one report even suggested that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had held internal discussions about acquiring Skype, in a deal that was reported to be worth US$3bn-US$4bn.
The ongoing strategic discussions reportedly meant that Skype’s planned IPO will not be launched until the second half of this year.
Skype’s most recent submission to the SEC was an amendment to an S-1 filing, dated November 2010. This document suggests that the lead bookrunners for the IPO would be Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.
The underwriting group also includes BOA Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Lazard Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets, UBS, Allen & Company and the Evercore Group.
Skype was founded in 2003 and acquired by US online auction group Ebay for US$2.6bn in 2005. Ebay subsequently sold roughly 65% of the company to a consortium of investors, led by Silver Lake, in November 2009 for US$1.9bn in cash, and a US$125m note from the buyer, which has since been repaid. This investor consortium includes Joltid and certain affiliated parties, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Andreessen Horowitz.
Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase & Co reportedly advised Skype on this deal.
