Ebay to hang up on Skype?

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 27 Jan 2009 at 17:19

Ebay is reportedly considering selling Skype, the internet telephony company that it paid a princely $2.6 billion for back in 2005.

Ebay originally intended to integrate the Skype service into its auction business, allowing buyers and sellers to talk to one another over the internet.

The idea never really took off, however, and Skype has continued to plough its own furrow as a desktop application.

Ebay chief executive John Donahue described Skype as a "great stand-alone business" to analysts last week, according to a report in The Times, sparking speculation that the auction site is looking to offload the phone business.

"The synergies between Skype and the other parts of our portfolio are minimal," Donahue added. "We're going to continue to run and operate the business. It's not a distraction currently. And at such time when we have further announcements on that, we'll let you know."

Google, Microsoft and US telecoms companies AT&T and Verizon have all been touted as potential buyers, although Ebay will do magnificently well to recoup the fee it paid for Skype four years ago.

Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom admitted Ebay had overpaid for his company in a 2007 interview, and Ebay has written more than a $1 billion off the value of the deal.