Here’s one stack of pennies…only 850 billion more pennies to go!
For months, the rumor mill had been projecting Facebook as purchasing Skype, but instead, Microsoft acquires Skype by digging into their couch cushions and finding $8.5 billion cash. That’s a lot of scratch to pay for a company that lost $6.9 million last year and carries just south of $700 million in debt.
And that’s a lot of profit if you were part of the group (Silver Lake, Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board) who bought Skype in September of 2009 for only $2.75 billion.
Apparently Microsoft acquires Skype because they feel that integrating Skype into their systems will help make both companies more money. Skype currently has about 170 million regular users, with about 9 million of those users being paying customers. I have a feeling that somewhere on Steve Ballmers ‘To-Do’ list is to increase that number of paid users. Skype will be integrated into Microsoft devices and systems such as Xbox and Kinect, Xbox Live, the Windows Phone, Lync and Outlook.
Microsoft Acquires Skype Press Release stated the following:
The acquisition will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications, bringing benefits to both consumers and enterprise users and generating significant new business and revenue opportunities. The combination will 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. http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2011/may11/05-10CorpNewsPR.mspx
If you’re wondering how Skype will fit in with Microsoft, Skype will become a new business division within Microsoft, and Skype CEO Tony Bates will assume the title of president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Steve Ballmer.
Oh, and for all of you non Microsoft users, the company did pledge to continue supporting and developing Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms as well, though I’m still not sure Mac users are thrilled to hear how Microsoft acquires Skype.