Quote:Why Microsoft Bought Skype for 8.5 Billion
.. the biggest reason for Microsoft to buy Skype is Windows Phone 7 (Mobile OS) and Nokia. The software giant needs a competitive offering to Google Voice and Apple’s emerging communication platform, Facetime.
Guess Who’s the Big Winner
The biggest winner of this deal could actually be Facebook (as I had posted earlier). The Palo Alto, Calif.-based social networking giant had little or no chance of buying Skype. Had it been public, it would have been a different story. With Microsoft, it gets the best of both worlds: It gets access to Skype assets (Microsoft is an investor in Facebook) and it gets to keep Skype away from Google.
Facebook needs Skype badly. Among other things, it needs to use Skype’s peer-to-peer network to offer video and voice services to the users of Facebook Chat. If the company had to use conventional methods and offer voice and video service to its 600 million plus customers, the cost and overhead of operating the infrastructure would be prohibitive.
Facebook can also help Skype get more customers for its SkypeOut service, and it can have folks use Facebook Credits to pay for Skype minutes. Skype and Facebook are working on a joint announcement, and you can expect it shortly.
Why Did Skype Want To Sell?
Skype had filed for an IPO, was going to do about a billion dollars in revenues, and was on its way to becoming profitable. So why sell? Silver Lake and eBay were both getting impatient and wanted to lock in their profits. Some sources also believe Skype’s revenues had stalled.
The company had bet heavily on is video sharing service. The premium version of video calling and sharing was a way for Skype to increase its average revenue per user and move into the enterprise market. However, given Skype’s DNA is that of a consumer Internet company, the challenges aren’t a surprise.
[b]So Who Made What?[/b]
Using the $8.5 billion price as the likely sale price, eBay gets $2.55 billion for its 30-percent stake in Skype. So in the end, eBay did make money on the Skype deal.
Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, the co-founders, with their 14-percent stake, take home about $1.19 billion. Damn, these guys know how to double-dip!
Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) own 56 percent of the company, and that stake is worth $4.76 billion.
Andreessen Horowitz had three percent of the deal and made $205 million profit on their $50 million initial investment.
http://gigaom.com/2011/05/09/why-microso...8-billion/
Silver Lake's (51% ownership) Press Release on the Deal
http://www.silverlake.com/pdfs/microsoft...inal-2.pdf
Interesting Portfolio on Silver lake that includes SMART systems, Energy and Technology and have just gotten a bunch of money (covert funding?) to tackle these ventures.
http://www.silverlake.com/content.php?page=news
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Microsoft Buys Skype for $8.5 Billion Cash; Facebook and Google Lose Bidding War
