Luxembourg-based VoIP Skype will not hold an IPO until the second half of 2011, according to media reports.
In a report yesterday, the Wall Street Journal cited an unnamed source claiming that the earliest date for the IPO would be in July.
The reasons…
Luxembourg-based VoIP Skype will not hold an IPO until the second half of 2011, according to media reports.
In a report yesterday, the Wall Street Journal cited an unnamed source claiming that the earliest date for the IPO would be in July.
The reasons for the delay are reportedly the company’s recent appointment of a new CEO, Tony Bates, as well as more general concerns about uncertainty in the IPO market and the wider economy.
Bates was appointed to the role of CEO in October. Before the appointment, he was senior vice president and general manager of US networking provider Cisco’s enterprise, commercial and small business group.
The Wall Street Journal cited another unnamed source suggesting that the company would only go ahead with the IPO once Bates had gained a thorough understanding of the business and once the macroeconomic climate was right.
Skype had filed its intentions of holding an IPO with the US Securities & Exchange Commission in August 2010.
Skype’s most recent publicly-available submission to the SEC was an amendment to its S-1 filing, which is dated in November. This document suggests that the lead bookrunners for the IPO will 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.
The document does not give specific details on the number of shares that will be offered and the amount that the company wishes to raise.
But it does give details on Skype’s rapid growth in recent years.
In the year up to 30 June 2010, it increased the number of registered users worldwide from 397 million to 560 million.
It also said that in the first six months of 2010, its net revenues were US$406.2m, its adjusted EBITDA US$115.8m, and its net income US$13.1m.
Skype was founded in 2003 and acquired by Ebay for US$2.6bn in 2005. Ebay subsequently sold a 70% stake in Skype to a consortium in November 2009.
The leader of this consortium was Silver Lake, a private investor in technology and related industries. It also included the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and the US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
The deal valued the company at US$2.75bn.
The principal shareholders are comprised of the members of this consortium, eBay and the peer-to-peer software provider Joltid, which is based in the Channel Islands.
Skype is just one of several tech companies that are considering IPOs over the coming 24 months.
Social networking sites LinkedIn and Facebook are reportedly considering going public in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Skype said that it could not comment at this stage.
