Silver Lake

eBay Sells 65% Stake in Skype to Investor Group for $1.9B

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 1, 2009 - 7:12am.

Menlo Park, Calif. - Online auction giant eBay (NASD: EBAY) announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to sell a majority 65% stake in its Skype Internet telephone unit to an investor group led by Silver Lake for about $1.9 billion in cash. Other members of the investor group include Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The deal values Skype at $2.75 billion.

Silver Lake Partners to Invest $500 Million in Thomson

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 23, 2004 - 4:41am.

Paris -- Silver Lake Partners, a Silicon Valley-based private equity firm, said on Friday that it planned to invest more than $500 million in Thomson, a French provider of technology for the media industry and owner of consumer electronics unit RCA. Thomson said the investment would take the form of privately held bonds that will not be transferable and cannot be hedged, thereby giving Silver Lake control of 7.5% of the French firm's share capital. Thomson made headlines earlier this week when its board decided to oust CEO Charles Dehelly and replace him with acting France Telecom chief financial officer Frank Dangeard. The company said the management change and the recent investment would speed up its transition to supplying equipment and services to the media industry. "We chose to work with Silver Lake because we believe they will serve as a strategic partner for Thomson as the company enters its next stage of growth and development," said Thomson chairman Frank Dangeard.

tags: Deals | VC | Thomson | Silver Lake |