Yesterday eBay agreed to sell a 65% stake in its Skype Internet calling service, bringing closure to a deal that was viewed as the Internet auction company’s biggest strategic mistake. The sale to a group of private investors, in return for US1.9B in cash and a US$125M debt instrument, marks the reversal of an ambitious 2005 push into online communications that came to cloud the final years at the company of Meg Whitman, its former chief executive. The transaction will cut loose one of the biggest and fastest-growing private Internet businesses. With US$551M of revenues last year and 405MM registered users, Skype’s global reach has made it one of the best-known consumer brands, and its free computer-to-computer calls have had a disruptive effect on traditional telephone companies. Read more
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