MUMBAI: Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company, is set to acquire VoiP player Skype for $8.5 billion, including debt.
The deal is expected to be announced soon.
The deal would represent one of Microsoft’s most strategic acquisitions yet and certainly would rank as the biggest acquisition in its history.
It is being said that once the acquisition takes place, Skype may be integrated into Microsoft’s Live family of services and would give the software giant a much-needed brand to take on Google in the battle for online advertising.
While in 2007 Microsoft paid $6 billion to acquire the online advertising firm aQuantive Inc, it walked away from a $48 billion plan to acquire Yahoo three years ago.
Skype was formed in 2003. Ebay Inc bought it in 2005 for $3.1 billion.
In 2009, eBay sold a majority stake in Skype to an investor group that included Silver Lake, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz for $1.9 billion in cash and a $125 million note.
EBay retained about a third of the company.
In 2010, Skype had about 124 million connected users every month by the end of June. But 8.1 million were paying customers, using Skype to make calls to traditional phones at discounted rates.
