Luxembourg-based VoIP operator Skype’s IPO is reportedly on hold so the company can continue separate partnership talks with Facebook and Google.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also held internal discussions about acquiring Skype in a deal that could…
Luxembourg-based VoIP operator Skype’s IPO is reportedly on hold so the company can continue separate partnership talks with Facebook and Google.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also held internal discussions about acquiring Skype in a deal that could fetch US$3bn-US$4bn, reported Reuters citing a source.
Indeed, the two content providers already share limited interconnectivity, with Skype users able to view the newsfeeds of their Facebook contacts.
Reports in March claimed the two sites had been in talks since last year to integrate online video calls, which would prompt a massive increase in bandwidth traffic if Skype’s service became available to Facebook’s estimated 600 million users.
Skype is also negotiating a similar partnership with Google, continues the Reuters report, citing a separate source.
However, it is not clear which option Skype favours because the discussions are in early stages, the report explains.
All parties declined to comment on the speculation.
The ongoing strategic discussions reportedly mean Skype’s planned IPO will not be launched until the second half of this year. It first filed intentions to list to the US Securities & Exchange Commission in August 2010.
But potential delays to the IPO were already doing the rounds in the media following the appointment of a new CEO, Tony Bates, in October.
Reports had suggested that Skype would only go ahead with the listing once Bates had gained a thorough understanding of the business, and once the macroeconomic climate was right.
Its most recent submission to the SEC was an amendment, dated November 2010, to an S-1 filing. This document suggests that the lead bookrunners for the IPO would be Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.
The underwriting group also includes 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.
An IPO of the VOIP provider would represent the continuation of a wave of listings this year in the social networking and software space.
Earlier this week, Chinese social site RenRen launched an IPO capable of raising US$743.4m if an over-allotment option is not exercised.
Back in January, LinkedIn, the US-based social networking group for professionals, filed a registration document for an IPO with the SEC to raise up to US$175m. The company reportedly plans to list later this year.
Facebook is also planning to go public by April 2012, according to reports.
