America’s largest online marketplace eBay today said it has completed the sale of its communications unit - Skype - to an investor group for USD 2 billion.
In a statement eBay Inc said the previously announced sale has been completed and as part of the deal “eBay received approximately USD 1.9 billion in cash and a note from the buyer in the principal amount of USD 125 million.”
Pursuant to the said deal, investor group - including Silver Lake and others like Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) - would hold 70 per cent stake in Skype, while the remaining 30 per cent equity would lie with eBay.
On November 6, eBay reached a settlement agreement with Joltid Limited, which used to provide peer-to-peer communication technology to Skype. As per the settlement Skype got rights for all the software previously licensed from Joltid.
As part of the settlement agreement, Joltid along with Skype founders - Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will have a 14 per cent stake in Skype.
As a result, Silver Lake and other investors including Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), will together hold 56 per cent of Skype and eBay will retain 30 per cent.
Besides, completing the deal eBay also purchased “senior debt securities with a face value of USD 50 million as part of a Skype debt financing.”
Reportedly, in September, eBay agreed to sell 65 per cent of Skype to an investor group led by Silver Lake for about USD 2 billion.
