This is getting fun. From the FT.com:
“Skype, the European internet telephony provider, on Thursday played down talk of an imminent takeover, declining to comment on a report that Ebay had joined the list of potential suitors with an offer valued at up to $5bn.”
[…]
“Early last month, a rumour circulated that News Corp was considering buying it for $3bn and on Monday, Hutchison, the telecommunications group, denied a report it was about to buy a 5 per cent stake in Skype. However, Hutchison is affiliated with TOM Online, the Chinese internet and wireless communications group, that on Monday announced a partnership with Skype.
Microsoft is also reported to be interested in the company.”
Om (which has not broken this piece of news yet), says Skype has annual revenues of about $72m. Nice P/E don’t you think ?
“ Skype has 51 million registered users and more than 2 million customers. Registered users are growing 130,000 per day. …More interesting was the information about Skype’s monthly revenue per user. According to Niklas Zennström Skype’s has income of “a couple of few dollars per month per customer”. Assuming that a couple of dollars equals three dollars, Skype has annual revenue of $72+ million. ”
Now, the WSJ.com reports a range of $2–3b. Ah ha! everyone is speculating, meaning no one really knows ? As it’s a subscriber only page, read it here.
“ EBay is in talks to acquire Internet-telephony company Skype for $2 billion to $3 billion, in a deal that would represent a dramatic shift in strategy for the online auction giant.
9:21 a.m.”
“ The talks are in a sensitive stage and could fall apart, according to one person briefed on the matter.
Luxembourg-based Skype, whose software allows consumers to make free telephone calls around the
world using Internet technology, has been in active discussions with other technology companies, and
none has led to a deal. “
The NYTimes has no info either, while the blogosphere is already carrying the news (technorati).
