From the Financial Times this morning:
Skype, the European internet telephony provider, on Thursday played down talk of an imminent takeover, declining to comment on a report that Ebay had joined the list of potential suitors with an offer valued at up to $5bn. Ebay on Thursday declined to comment on a report in the New York Post that it offered to buy Skype.
Early last month, a rumour circulated that News Corp was considering buying it for $3bn and on Monday, Hutchison, the telecommunications group, denied a report it was about to buy a 5 per cent stake in Skype. However, Hutchison is affiliated with TOM Online, the Chinese internet and wireless communications group, that on Monday announced a partnership with Skype.
Microsoft is also reported to be interested in the company.
The New York post story includes this comment:
A source said Skype has been in exclusive negotiations with eBay for some time, but the agreement expires in the next few days.
Wow! eBay and Skype. This company certainly has no shortage of suitors. eBay has done very well over the years but it’s only a matter of time before their revenues peak. Which means that it may be time to move into other markets. Could there be live, online audio auctions powered by Skype in our future?
On another note, you pointed me back to my favorite NYC newspaper, the NY Post. The Post’s parent company, News Corp. (owned by Rupert Murdoch) has been the subject of plenty of acquisition buzz over the last month as they seek to beef up their internet presence.
Vint Cerf is Working for Google
Joi Ito posted this morning that Vint Cerf has left MCI to work for Google. This is very interesting news. (Google press release via SiliconBeat) Joi puts the news in context of eBay buying Skype, but I see this adding…
It is interesting, Rob, if it’s more than just a rumour.
I’ve actually been trying to see where the synergy would be between eBay and Skype and I can’t see it. The financial markets don’t seem too impressed – this from a Reuters report an hour or so ago:
“Shares of eBay Inc. fell 4 percent on Thursday following published reports that the online auction company was in talks to buy online telephone company Skype Technologies SA.”
We’ll know soon enough if there’s any meat in the burger, so to speak.
On the synergy point, Fred Wilson asks the same question. Interesting comments to his post:
http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2005/09/ebay_and_skype.html