Skype linked to eBay takeover |
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Thu, 08 Sep 2005 18:05
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NEW YORK - Online auction site EBay Inc has been strongly linked to Internet-telephone company Skype and is in talks with the company for a $2 billion to $3 billion takeover, according to Reuters which is quoting a Wall Street Journal story.
Luxembourg-based Skype has been looking around for a deal with technological companies, but so far nothing has materialised. The WSJ talked to people who are intimately connected with the matter and said that the talks were at an advanced stage and could fall apart any moment if any agreement was not reached. The paper said that an eBay spokesman declined to comment and that Skype officials were not reachable for comment. But a spokesperson for the company later told the Financial Times, “Skype is focused on building a successful company for the long term.”
But Skype, which makes and markets software that allows users to make Internet calls for free, has been rumored to be the subject of takeover for a long time. News Corp, Hutchison, the telecommunications group and Microsoft have all been linked to Skype, but these speculations are as yet unconfirmed.
As far as eBay is concerned, the WSJ reported that the Internet auction giant was keen to expand its portfolio and that the addition of Skype would allow it to make the business of buying and selling goods easier. EBay had made a similar move when it had acquired PayPal in 2002. The San Jose, California-based Company is also looking for ways to generate revenue out of the booming voice over Internet protocol segment.
The WSJ reported that over the last year, eBay had entered into the rental-property listings, online classified-ad listings and comparison shopping segments by sensible acquisitions and its interest in Skype was an extension of this thought process.
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