TECH CRUNCH - Oct 7 - The European Commission has cleared Microsoft’s $8.5 billion proposed acquisition of Skype. With this approval, the acquisition can now take place.
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Skype to Acquire Year-old Group Messaging Service GroupMe
TECH CRUNCH - Aug 22 - Skype will acquire group messaging service GroupMe. GroupMe was founded by Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci. The terms of the deal, including price, aren’t being disclosed. The company closed a $850K round of financing from Betaworks, SV Angel, First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures and a number of prominent angels. Early this year the company also raised $10.6M more from Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst and previous investors. GroupMe allows you to create on the fly private phone groups with others, and then send text messages throughout the group and set up free conference calls.
Will Skype in Facebook Mean the Loss of UAE?
TECH CRUNCH - July 7 - The UAE is one of four countries in the world that has blocked access to Skype, primarily because its state-run telecoms operators stand to lose millions of dollars each year on long-distance charges. Now that Facebook has integrated Skype into its chatting feature, serious questions are likely being asked at UAE regulator and telcos if Facebook will be blocked in the country as well. The potential loss of Facebook in the UAE may be too much for the country to bear. Over half of the country’s 8M population is on Facebook and a suspension of services could bring a very unwanted outcry from its residents. Facebook is currently hiring a Director of Policy for the Middle East in its London office.
U.S. Trade Commission Gives the Green Light to Microsoft’s Takeover of Skype
TECH CRUNCH - Jun 17 - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has approved Microsoft’s $8.5 billion cash takeover of Skype. Microsoft officially announced its intent to acquire Skype back on May 10 and, since then, users have been taking to Twitter to blame Microsoft for Skype’s intermittent service.
Microsoft Buys Skype For $8.5 Billion
TECH CRUNCH - May 10 - Microsoft is buying Skype for $8.5 billion in cash in its first sizeable acquisition since August 2008, when they spent $486M on Greenfield Online. The purchase price includes the assumption of Skype’s debt. Skype will become a new business division within Microsoft, and its current CEO Tony Bates will assume the title of president of the Microsoft Skype Division. Skype’s 2010 revenue was $860M, adjusted EBITDA was $264M, and the company actually lost $7M last year.
Facebook And Google Mull Skype Deals
REUTERS - May 5 - Facebook and Google are separately considering a tie-up with Skype after the web video conferencing service delayed its IPO. A Skype deal could be valued at $3 to $4 billion. Skype's IPO is expected to raise ~$1 billion. For Skype, the clock is ticking, as large social media and software companies pour into the public markets. On Wednesday, shares of Renren, China's largest social network, surged ~57% in its first day of trade.
by Kenneth Li & Robert MacMillan
See full article at Reuters
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Skype Delays IPO Until Second Half Of 2011
TECH CRUNCH - Jan 26 – According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Skype has delayed its IPO until the second half of 2011 in order to increase revenues. The company filed for an IPO registration statement with the SEC last August, with the maximum proposed offering amount listed as $100 million. This was a placeholder value. Skype is on track to pass $1 billion in revenues with 124 million active users per month, though only 8.1 million are paying. The company is believed to be focused on an IPO, though WSJ's sources claim Skype's owners may be open to a sale at $5-6 billion. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
Skype Buys Mobile Video Startup Qik
TECH CRUNCH - Jan 6 - Skype has just picked up mobile video startup Qik. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed but sources tell Business Insider that deal was ~$150M. Qik, which enables mobile phones users to record and stream videos in realtime, has 5M users. It looks like Skype will be using Qik’s live video streaming technology. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
Skype 5.0 Debuts With Facebook Integration
TECH CRUNCH - Oct 14 - Skype has announced that the new version of Skype 5.0 for Windows will include a deep Facebook integration. After logging in via Facebook Connect, you’ll be able to see your Facebook News Feed with the Skype interface, post status updates that can be synced with your Skype mood message and comment and like friends’ updates and wall posts. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
Skype And Facebook To Announce Partnership
MASHABLE - Sep 29 - Facebook and Skype are working on a deal that would
integrate Facebook Connect with Skype accounts. Once you connect Skype
with Facebook, you’ll be able to SMS, chat with or call your Facebook
friends directly from Skype. You should also be able to log in to Skype
with your Facebook credentials. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
Skype, Going Public, Hopes For $100 Million From First Offering
NY TIMES - Aug 9 - Skype hopes to raise $100M in an initial public
offering of stock. Analysts have speculated that Skype’s sale, planned
for the Nasdaq market, could be the biggest initial offering in the
technology sector since Google went public in 2004 and raised $1.67
billion. Skype has ~124M users a month worldwide. In the first six
months of this year, those users made 95 billion minutes worth of
calls, the company said. But only 8.1M Skype users are paying
customers. Video calling represents 40% of total calling time on Skype,
and analysts say this could grow further as the proliferation of
smartphones enables more people to place such calls while on the go. FULL ARTICLE @ NY TIMES
This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.
Facebook Prompts Users To Log On To Skype To Connect With More Friends
TECH CRUNCH - Jun 15 - To find more friends on Facebook, you can do a
search for them or have the service go through your contacts on other
communication platforms. One of the options is to log on to Skype and
have your contact list cross-checked with Facebook’s vast database of
identifiable users. Facebook started actively prompting users on their
homepage, up on top, to connect to Skype and to discover more friends. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
Skype To Add Five-Way Video Calling
MASHABLE - May 6 - Skype will unveil a new public beta product with a
Group Video Calling feature that will allow users to participate in a
group video chat with up to five people. PC owners will be first to get
the new multi-video chat feature, though a Mac version is expected
later this year. Group Video Calling will be free at first, but Skype
has plans to bundle it with upcoming features and eventually — in three
to four months time — charge for the additional functionalities. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
eBay Completes Skype Sale
TECH CRUNCH - Nov 19 - eBay has completed the sale of Skype, valuing
the company at $2.75 billion. The investor consortium who is the buying
party and will control ~70% stake is a group led by Silver Lake
Partners and includes Joltid (i.e. the company founded by Skype’s
original founders) and “certain affiliated parties”, the Canada Pension
Plan Investment Board and VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
Skype Founders Settle With eBay
Skype Goes Open Source For Linux? Not Quite.
MASHABLE – Nov 2 – In order to
clarify rumors about Skype becoming open source for Linux,
representatives posted an entry on the Skype for Linux blog. They
stated that an open source version of the Linux client is in
development, however, they made it a point to mention an open source
UI. It is likely the inner workings of Skype will remain closed off. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
Skype Hits 521 Million Users
Mark Brooks: I'm very impressed with the Skype calling service of late. The sound quality is very strong. Especially skype to skype calls. The screen sharing functionality is a welcome addition. And now that I'm able to call out and show a number in people's caller id, I'm using Skype almost as my primary calling service. If only they would integrate Phonetag.com services and some of Toktumi and RingCentral features.
Skype Starts To Roll Out Click-To-Call Ads
TECH CRUNCH - Oct 5 - Skype is set to announce the official roll-out of its
click-to-call advertising service with European Directories, one of the
largest local business directory services in Europe. This turns the
actual phone number into an ad. Click it, and you call the business you
were looking for, and the call is paid for by either the business or
the Yellow Pages partner. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
Mark Brooks
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