Skype has been sold by eBay. Well sort of.
They have been set free and made as CEO Josh Silverman said, an independent company, starting a new era.
While some VC firms are involved, the real money seems to be coming from Silver Lake Partners, who have a track record in buyouts, and has had experience with MCI in the telco space.
My guess is this is a precursor to an IPO in the next 12-24 months, not simply a private equity deal. VC's look for exits, as does Silver Lake as they don't buy to hold on to companies for a long period of time, nor do they simply milk the company for profits the way some other players in the private equity market like to play.
In many ways you can look at this as sort of an LBO, with the word leverage being the key. Index Ventures was one of the key winners in the buy out by eBay of Skype, and they must have some leverage with Skype's original founders and the JoltID suit.
P.S. GigaOm' Om Malik says eBay shareholder should be upset.
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