[Darius Wey]

http://www.skype.com/company/news/2...skype_ebay.html

"eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY; http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/www.ebay.com) has agreed to acquire Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA, the global Internet communications company, for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock, plus potential performance-based consideration. The acquisition will strengthen eBay’s global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business and creating significant new monetization opportunities for the company. The deal also represents a major opportunity for Skype to advance its leadership in Internet voice communications and offer people worldwide new ways to communicate in a global online era. Skype, eBay and PayPal will create an unparalleled ecommerce and communications engine for buyers and sellers around the world."



2005 has proven to be a hotbed for mammoth acquisitions, and this one is no exception. Just announced today is eBay's acquisition of Skype Technologies, the company behind Skype for Pocket PC (and Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux). The press release outlines some of eBay's plans with Skype, but plans aside, history has shown that acquisitions can go either way (i.e. success or failure). Your thoughts on this one?

[Darius Wey]

http://www.skype.com/company/news/2...skype_ebay.html

"eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY; http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/www.ebay.com) has agreed to acquire Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA, the global Internet communications company, for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock, plus potential performance-based consideration. The acquisition will strengthen eBay’s global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business and creating significant new monetization opportunities for the company. The deal also represents a major opportunity for Skype to advance its leadership in Internet voice communications and offer people worldwide new ways to communicate in a global online era. Skype, eBay and PayPal will create an unparalleled ecommerce and communications engine for buyers and sellers around the world."



2005 has proven to be a hotbed for mammoth acquisitions, and this one is no exception. Just announced today is eBay's acquisition of Skype Technologies, the company behind Skype for Pocket PC (and Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux). The press release outlines some of eBay's plans with Skype, but plans aside, history has shown that acquisitions can go either way (i.e. success or failure). Your thoughts on this one?

[ricksfiona]

eBay must feel that the earning potential from Skype is worth the legal hassles that they will get from telecom providers. I wonder if Skype will still be a bargain to use.

[silver99]

I'm just hoping that they won't add a banner to the skype interface advertising Ebay. But it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

- Silver

[makic]

I am afraid that we will have ebay advertisements on skpye in the near future. They seem to like integration of the products, instead of letting the products stand alone. While I see the connection between ebay and paypal, I am not sure how they are going to get skype into the family.

[Cybrid]

Originally Posted by makic

I am afraid that we will have ebay advertisements on skpye in the near future. They seem to like integration of the products, instead of letting the products stand alone. While I see the connection between ebay and paypal, I am not sure how they are going to get skype into the family.

Since the rise of spoofing, ebay has vastly expanded their messaging system. "My ebay" has its own messaging webpage. I could forsee skype being integrated there for members to contact each other securely and cheaply.

[Muntasser]

doesnt look like a practical merger to me.

[155]

I think the problem isn't that they bought it, but the amount of $'s they paid.

You can't convince me that Skype is worth that. Sorta reminds me of the compaq-hp merger and the AOL-Time Warner Merger

It's a bad deal.

[makic]

Originally Posted by Cybrid

Since the rise of spoofing, ebay has vastly expanded their messaging system. "My ebay" has its own messaging webpage. I could forsee skype being integrated there for members to contact each other securely and cheaply.

Ya see . . . I haven't used ebay in a long while and did not see this potential integration. This actually makes sense.

However, I still worry about the advertising issues and the potential impact on quality of service (and of course the cost).

[tobyrne]

I just hope they keep working on the PPC client

[dMores]

OT: i didn't know skype was luxembourg-based.
cool! my dad's from luxembourg, and i am too, sort of
jay!