James Delahunty
11 Apr 2009 18:48
The original creators of the Skype VoIP Internet communication network are reportedly seeking to buy the company back from eBay. Niklas Zennstrom, from Sweden, and Janus Friis, from Denmark, founded Skype in 2003 and sold it to eBay just two years later for $2.6 billion. The New York Times is reporting that they are now seeking to raise a billion dollars from private equity firms to re-claim their creation.
eBay is reported to be expecting no less than $1.7 billion for the company. Skype made $145 million in revenues for the fourth quarter of 2008. It boasts 405 million users, up sharply from the 53 million registered users at the time of its sale. It is used mostly for free user-to-user calls as opposed to premium services it offers.
John Donahoe, eBay's chief executive, has "repeatedly signaled his willingness to sell Skype for the right price," according to the Times. Recently Skype launched an application for the Apple iPhone, allowing iPhone users to take advantage of the service.