EBay wants over $2 billion for Skype

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 7 May 2009 at 08:47

EBay says it will be looking to rake in over $2 billion from its spin off of Skype in 2010.

Analysts have claimed Skype could fetch up to $2 billion, representing a significant loss on the $2.6 billion which eBay paid for it in 2005.

However, eBay chief executive John Donahoe has dismissed that figure as "too low."

Donahoe declined to publicly state the minimum valuation the company wants for Skype, adding only: "I think it's worth a lot and I think the numbers speak for themselves. There are not many properties that have that kind of growth."

He backed up his claim with download figures of the recent iPhone Skype app: "Within 24 hours it was the largest application on the iPhone in 40 countries. Three weeks later, it's downloaded on 10% of the iPhones."

Donahoe says the five-year-old Skype now has 400 million users.

Last month, eBay posted first-quarter net profit of $357 million, down from $460 million, as the company was hit by a stronger US dollar affecting international sales and a waning global economy squeezing its core auction business.

"It's working its way through continental Europe and throughout Asia," he says. "What will happen going forward no one knows."