Microsoft to Announce $8.5 Billion Skype Purchase Tuesday, say Reports

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Sarah Jacobsson Purewal, PCWorld


Microsoft will purchase Skype for $8.5 billion in a deal expected to be announce Tuesday morning. According to news sites GigaOm and The Wall Street Journal's All Things D blog the the all-cash deal will make Microsoft a powerful player in Internet-based voice and video communications overnight.

Neither Microsoft or Skype have made any formal announcements as of this writing. Sources say a announcement is expected early Tuesday morning.

Previous reports suggested the purchase price would be somewhere between $7 billion and $8 billion. Skype has been on sale for a while now, and a number of companies reportedly showed interest in purchasing the web-based phone and video chat service, including Facebook, Google, and Cisco.

The $8.5 billion purchase would be Microsoft's largest acquisition in nearly three decades. Until now, Microsoft's most expensive acquisition was its 2007 purchase of digital marketing services agency aQuantive for $6 billion.

Despite Skype's having a debt of $686 million, the deal should be a plus for Microsoft. After all, Microsoft will finally have a brand-name Web service under its wing, though it's believed Microsoft plans to integrate Skype into Microsoft Live.

Microsoft's Plans for Skype?

This also could mean that Kinect users can probably look forward to Skype calling through Xbox Live.

Another reason Microsoft will benefit from Skype--if Microsoft plans (and I'm sure it does) to use Skype on its Windows Phone 7 platform, it will finally have a competitive alternative to Google's Google Voice and Apple's Facetime services.

GigaOm breaks down who (likely) made what, based on an $8.5 billion purchase price:

- eBay gets $2.55 billion (eBay purchased a 30 percent stake in Skype in 2005)

- Skype co-founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis get $1.19 billion for their 14 percent stake

- Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) get $4.76 billion for their 56 percent stake

And of course Microsoft is out $8.5 billion, but they now have a new tool with which to (try to) terrorize Google and Apple. And everybody's happy!

[Godfather]

Interesting. That's big money

Should be interesting using it with XBL

[Muddy]

I am so uninterested in tech. these days.. I wonder what my problem is?

[Arkady Renko]

I think it might make sense for MS to grab skype in spite of the high price because they can use it to integrate the XBOX, win7 smartphones and regular computers, particularly with devices such as the android tablets or the Samsung Galaxy phones it should be very convenient and pleasant to use video telephony, so all they'd have to do is implement Skype in a nice app for Win7 and maybe Android and pimp it some, might do wonders.

I am so uninterested in tech. these days.. I wonder what my problem is?

Cause you'd need hands instead of claws to use most devices?

[redred]

I am so uninterested in tech. these days.. I wonder what my problem is?

have you started to wear ladies clothes?

[Muddy]

have you started to wear ladies clothes?

No, but I did recently stay at a Holiday Inn express..

[Goofy]

Ah, so this is why Bill called me for a loan today

[Goofy]

I am so uninterested in tech. these days.. I wonder what my problem is?

Same here tbh, i have my pc, i have a regular cellphone which can call and text.......... a tv.......... thats about all i need

[Muddy]

Same here tbh, i have my pc, i have a regular cellphone which can call and text.......... a tv.......... thats about all i need

My cellphone is the biggest POS, people laugh at me when I walk by...

[AntZ]

Microsoft Snaps Up Skype for $8.5 Billion

By Adam Samson

Published May 10, 2011

| FOXBusiness



Microsoft (MSFT) revealed plans to acquire Internet telephone company Skype for $8.5 billion in cash, the largest deal in the technology company's history.

The company plans on rolling Skype's communication technology into many of its pre-existing platforms, such as its gaming system Xbox and its Windows mobile phones, the company said in a release.

"The acquisition will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications, bringing benefits to both consumers and enterprise users and generating significant new business and revenue opportunities," the release said.

Skype was acquired by Ebay (EBAY) in 2005 and then purchased by an investment group led by Silver Lake in 2009.

Microsoft has been making a major push into the Web market as its seen its foothold in many business areas eroded by competitors like Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG).

[Deepsepia]

MSFT is a hometown company, so I root for them . . . but my gosh, does anything say "we're out of ideas" more clearly than paying $8.5 billion for Skype?

. . .well, I suppose there was Microsoft's $44 billion bid for Yahoo, which they were very lucky to lose (Yahoo inexplicably said "no thank you" to $44 billion . . . hard to decide which management was stupider . . . kinda a pick'em on that one)

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Repost....to be merged

[Goofy]

My cellphone is the biggest POS, people laugh at me when I walk by...

I have a motorola razr vmaxx (or something like that) that i bought for £40 off ebay, does everything i need it to do

[Teh One Who Knocks]

My cellphone is the biggest POS, people laugh at me when I walk by...

[Hal-9000]

Didn't you have a little green phone awhile back and say you didn't need or desire a fancy smartphone?