EBay to Spin Off Skype in IPO Next Year

Company aims to end 'marriage from hell' through stock offering

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 15, 2009 5:00 AM CDT

(Newser) – Ebay plans to end its uneasy relationship with Skype by offloading the ill-fitting acquisition through an IPO early next year, Bloomberg reports. Analysts say the move could raise up to $1 billion for eBay, depending on how much equity the auction powerhouse wants to give up. The company declined to comment on reports that Skype's creators want to buy it back.

“The only problem with Skype is it’s part of EBay,” an analyst tells Bloomberg. “It’s a marriage made in hell. They will make more money from spinning it out than they ever could by keeping it.”

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Then-eBay CEO Meg Whitman, left, stands with Niklas Zennstrom,co-founder of Skype. The acquisition has failed to live up to Whitman's predictions. (AP Photos / Sergio Dionisio, eBay)

Ebay's plans to offload Skype come as the company falls under pressure to revive sales at its main site. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

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The only problem with Skype is it's part of eBay. It's a marriage made in hell. They will make more money from spinning it out than they ever could by keeping it.
- Jeff Lindsay, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

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EBay to Spin Off Skype in IPO Next Year