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EBay completes acquisition of Skype

Internet auction giant eBay on announced the completion of its acquisition of online telecom company Skype for about 2.5 billion dollars in cash and stock.

 
The San Jose, California-based eBay said the final consideration consisted of about 1.3 billion dollars in cash and 32.8 million shares of its common stock.

It noted that the maximum amount payable under the performance-based earn-out aspect of the deal is about 1.4 billion dollars in cash or stock, with the payment expected to occur in 2008 or 2009.

About 42 percent of the Skype shareholders elected to receive a single payment of cash and stock at the deal's close, while the remaining 58 percent chose to receive a reduced up-front payment plus potential future earn-out payments.

The Luxembourg-based Skype has rapidly emerged as a leader in the market for Internet telephone calls, which also founded the controversial online music-swapping service KaZaA.

The three-year-old company, founded by Niklas Zennstroem, 39, of Sweden and 29-year-old Danish citizen Janus Friis, claims to have 54 million subscribers in 225 countries and territories, mostly in Europe and Asia, and to be adding 150,000 users daily.

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