EBay close to acquiring Skype for USD 2.6 Billion

EBay close to acquiring Skype for USD 2.6 Billion

The deal is expected to close soon and e-commerce giant eBay would be the new owner of the Skype Company. The company said that they would soon be completing the proceedings and buy out Skype for a reported $2.6 billion in cash and eBay stock. This is big money for a company which employees around 200 workers and has now in direct competition Google.

However, the deal might cost even more to eBay with the price reaching as much as USD 4.1 Billion if Skype can meet some predefined targets over the next three years as per the statement released by the company. If the conditions are met, the rest of the payments of $1.5 billion would be made in 2008 or 2009.

EBay also said that this acquisition would give the internet users worldwide “an unparalleled e-commerce and communications engine” with support from their services and products. Skype has pioneered VoIP based conversations on the internet and the company provides its users a freely downloadable application for this purpose.

The company also provides some paid for services allowing the Skype users to call others on their regular phones and even receive voice mails. Market experts are still not sure why eBay would be interested in this market and pay such a huge price for a company, which can in no ways generate as much revenues in the near future.