Notícia: Microsoft confirms $8.5bn Skype buy

By Helen Thomas in New York and Richard Waters in San Francisco 

Microsoft has confirmed it is acquiring Skype, the internet telephone company, for $8.5bn from an investor group led by Silver Lake, in one of the US software company’s largest deals as it seeks to boost its online operations.
The two groups said in a statement on Tuesday that the deal would “extend Skype’s world-class brand and the reach of its networked platform, while enhancing Microsoft’s existing portfolio of real-time communications products and services.”
Skype, which has 170m users, will support Microsoft devices like the Xbox and Kinect games consoles, Windows Phone and a wide range of Windows devices.
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft chief executive, said: “Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world. Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world.”
Skype will become a new business division within Microsoft, and Tony Bates, its chief executive, will become president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Mr Ballmer.
The deal marks Microsoft’s most aggressive move online so far, as the Seattle-based company seeks to respond to strategic challenges and shift away from its core Windows business into other areas, including the internet, communications and entertainment.
Microsoft’s last substantial deal was the purchase of online advertising company Aquantive in 2007 for just over $6bn.
The cash deal will make little dent in Microsoft’s cash reserves. The software company had cash and short-term investments of $50.2bn at the end of March, up $13.4bn from the end of the company’s last fiscal year.
However, the value put on Skype by the acquisition represents a big premium to what Wall Street had been expecting in an initial public offering.
The internet calling service reported a loss of $7m for 2010 on revenues of $860m. It has struggled to find add-ons for its free voice and video services that add revenue.
At $8.5bn, the deal values Skype at about 32 times its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – the measure by which analysts assess its performance.
The company last summer filed for an initial public offering through a Nasdaq listing. However, since then, takeover speculation has swirled around Skype, with Google and Facebook mentioned as possible suitors.
Microsoft may tread carefully in picking up Skype. Ebay purchased the company in 2005, but failed to deliver on its promise of profitably bringing together internet communication with online shopping. The company eventually wrote down its investment in Skype, selling the business to a group of private investors.
Shares in Microsoft fell .43 per cent to $25.72 in early New York trading on news of the deal. But eBay’s jumped 2.7 per cent to $34.02


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