SkypeeBay Completes Sale of Skype Unit to Investor GroupAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 9:34am.
San Jose,
Calif. - Nearly three months
after first announcing the deal, online auction giant eBay (NASD: EBAY) said that it has
completed the sale of a majority stake in its Skype Internet telephone business
to an investment group headed by Silver Lake Partners. Under the deal, the
investor group -- which also included Joltid Limited, the Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz -- paid $1.9 billion and a $125
million note in exchange for a 70% stake in the unit.
tags: Deals | eBay | Acquisitions | Skype | Silver Lake Partners | Andreessen Horowitz | Canada Pension Plan Investment Board | Joltid | Janus Friis | Niklas Zennstrom |
Skype Litigation Settled; Sale by eBay to Investors to ProceedAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 8:35am.
San Jose,
Calif. - Skype parent company
eBay (NASD: EBAY) announced on Friday that litigation between an investor group looking to
acquire Skype and the creators of the Internet telephone service has been
settled, and that its sale of a majority stake in Skype will now proceed. As a
result of the settlement, the acquisition deal has been restructured, and Skype
creators Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will now join the investor group, led
by Silver Lake, and make a "significant
capital investment" in exchange for a 14% stake in Skype.
tags: Deals | Law | Lawsuits | eBay | Acquisitions | Skype | Joost | Mike Volpi | Silver Lake Partners | Andreessen Horowitz | Janus Friis | Niklas Zennstrom |
Report: Skype Creators, eBay, Investors Near SettlementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 9:29am.
San Francisco - Litigation between the inventors and former
owners of Internet phone service Skype, current owner eBay (NASD: EBAY), and an investor
group looking to acquire Skype from eBay, could be nearing a settlement, The New
York Times reported, citing several people who have been briefed on the
situation. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis -- the inventors of Skype and the
peer-to-peer technology behind file-sharing service Kazaa and video portal
Joost -- sued the investor group in a bid to block their acquisition of Skype
from eBay.
Skype Creators Seek Injunction Against Former Joost CEO VolpiAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 15, 2009 - 9:00am.
Wilmington,
Del. - The creators of
peer-to-peer services Kazaa, Skype and Joost have asked a federal court for an
injunction against former Joost CEO Mike Volpi and Index Ventures, where he is
now a partner, to prevent them from using trade secrets in their bid to acquire
Skype from eBay. Developers Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis allege that Volpi
breached his duties to Joost while employed there by dangling a prospective
workaround -- that would eliminate the need for Skype to use Zennstrom's and
Friis' peer-to-peer technology -- to investors looking to acquire Skype from
eBay (NASD: EBAY).
tags: Deals | Law | Lawsuits | P2P | eBay | Acquisitions | Skype | Joost | Index Ventures | Mike Volpi | Joltid | Janus Friis | Niklas Zennstrom |
AT&T to Allow VoIP Applications on its 3G NetworkAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 6, 2009 - 10:18am.
Dallas
- AT&T (NYSE: T) announced on Tuesday that it has "taken the steps necessary so
that Apple (NASD: AAPL) can enable VoIP application on iPhone to run on AT&T's wireless
network." Previously, such applications were only enabled for use over Wi-Fi
connections. The move will allow Internet-based phone services like Skype, and
potentially Google Voice (NASD: GOOG), to work on the iPhone over AT&T's 3G network.
Skype Creators Sue Former Joost CEO VolpiAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on September 18, 2009 - 10:14am.
Wilmington,
Del. - The creators of Skype,
Kazaa and Joost and their related companies have filed suit against former
Joost CEO and chairman Mike Volpi and Index Ventures Management, alleging
breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets, among other claims. The
plaintiffs include Joltid, the company owned by Skype, Kazaa and Joost creators
Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom; Joost US Inc.; and Joost N.V.
tags: Deals | Law | Lawsuits | P2P | Acquisitions | Skype | Copyright | Joost | Index Ventures | Mike Volpi | Janus Friis | Niklas Zennstrom |
Skype Founders Sue eBay for Copyright InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on September 17, 2009 - 9:41am.
San Francisco
- Joltid, the company operated by Skype and Kazaa creators Janus Friis and
Niklas Zennstrom, has filed a copyright infringement suit against Skype parent company eBay (NASD: EBAY), which
could have an adverse affect on eBay's $2 billion sale of the Internet
telephone company to a group of investors, The Wall Street Journal reported. The
pair left Skype two years after eBay acquired the company from them for $2.6
billion in 2005, but retained the rights to the service's underlying peer-to-peer
technology.
tags: Deals | Law | Lawsuits | P2P | eBay | Acquisitions | Skype | Joltid | Janus Friis | Niklas Zennstrom |
Vonage Says Apple Approves VoIP iPhone ApplicationAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on September 2, 2009 - 12:01pm.
Holmdel,
N.J. - Vonage (NYSE: VG), a provider of
Internet-based telephone service, announced that Apple (NASD: AAPL) has approved its mobile
application for the iPhone and iPod touch. The company hasn't released the application
yet, stating that it is currently conducting a beta test, and that general
availability will be announced at a later date. Vonage also did not state
whether its application would allow iPhone owners to use AT&T's 3G network
to make Internet-based calls, or, like Skype's iPhone application, be limited
to Wi-Fi connections.
eBay Sells 65% Stake in Skype to Investor Group for $1.9BAuthored 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.
tags: Deals | eBay | Acquisitions | Skype | Silver Lake | Index Ventures | Andreessen Horowitz | Canada Pension Plan Investment Board |
EBay Announces IPO for Skype in First Half of 2010Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2009 - 11:05am.
San Jose,
Calif. - Online auctioneer eBay (NASD: EBAY)
announced on Tuesday that it plans to spin-off its Skype Internet telephone
unit in an initial public offering in the first half of 2010. "Skype is a
great stand-alone business with strong fundamentals and accelerating
momentum," said eBay president and CEO John Donahoe. "But it's clear
that Skype has limited synergies with eBay and PayPal. We believe operating
Skype as a stand-alone publicly traded company is the best path for maximizing
its potential."
NYT: Skype Co-Founders Seek to Repurchase Firm From eBayAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on April 13, 2009 - 10:12am.
New York
- The co-creators of Internet telephone service Skype, who sold their venture
to eBay (NASD: EBAY) four years ago for $2.6 billion, are now looking to raise money to help
finance a repurchase of the company from eBay, The New York Times reported. Skype
co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis "have approached several
private equity firms and are pooling their own substantial resources to make a
bid for the Internet calling service," people with knowledge of the plan
told The Times.
Are You Interested In Getting Skype for Your iPhone, BlackBerry?Authored by Jay Baage on March 31, 2009 - 9:43am.
Skype to Launch Applications for iPhone, BlackBerryAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2009 - 11:28am.
Report: Skype May Introduce iPhone Application Next WeekAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 26, 2009 - 12:54pm.
Los Angeles - Skype (NASD: EBAY) may soon
introduce a version of its Internet telephony application for Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone,
GigaOM reports, adding that the announcement could come at the CTIA mobile
industry conference in Las Vegas
next week. Skype's VoIP service has to date been downloaded over 405 million
times.
Google Voice Transcribes Voicemail Into EmailAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 12, 2009 - 7:45am.
Mountain View,
Calif. - Google (NASD: GOOG) on Thursday
introduced a new service, Google Voice, that will transcribe a user's voicemail
messages into text, and email or text message the transcript to an email account.
Google Voice will initially be available to existing users of GrandCentral, a
service the company acquired in July 2007, and open to all users in the coming
weeks.
Nokia to Integrate Skype Internet Phone Service Onto MobilesAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on February 17, 2009 - 1:48pm.
Barcelona
- Skype, the Internet phone service owned by eBay (NASD: EBAY), on Tuesday announced a deal
with Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to bundle its service on a range of Nokia mobile phones. Set to
first become available on the Nokia N97 in the third quarter, the service will
let mobile callers use 3G and WLAN to make and receive free Skype-to-Skype
voice calls, as well as low-cost Skype calls to landlines and mobile devices.
Nimbuzz Introduces Free Mobile VoIP, IM for Social NetworksAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on May 13, 2008 - 11:27am.
London - Nimbuzz on Tuesday introduced its free mobile VoIP and instant messaging service, which enables free calls, instant messaging and group chat on over 500 supported handsets across services including Skype, Yahoo, AIM, Google Talk, MSN and 23 social networks including Facebook and MySpace. Available now as a beta in the U.K., the service works on Nokia Symbian Series 60 devices connected to a 3G or Wi-Fi network, and also offers a hybrid VoIP for GPRS/EDGE, allowing users to make international mobile calls at local dial-in cost. Sony: 1.2M PS3s Sold Over Holidays; Skype Coming to PSPAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 7, 2008 - 8:54am.
Apple, Others Sued by Klausner Over Voicemail PatentsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on December 4, 2007 - 11:24am.
tags: Mobile | Law | Lawsuits | Apple | AT&T | Comcast | Patents | Skype | Cablevision | Cellphones | iPhone | Klausner Technologies |
MySpace, Skype to Offer Free Internet Phone Calls to UsersAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 17, 2007 - 11:51am.
Los Angeles - News Corp.'s MySpace online social network announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Skype, the Internet telephone service owned by eBay, to enable MySpace's 110 million users and Skype's 220 million users to call each other for free using Skype. |
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