Post submitted by Betsey Poore (some editing by BJB)
The deal first announced in May 2011 is not final - Microsoft has completed its acquisition of VolP service Skype.
Skype has gone through several ownership changes since it was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. It was acquired by eBay in 2005, and then it was sold to Silver Lake in 2009. Skype will now become a new business division within Microsoft. Skype CEO Tony Bates will become the president of that division.
Microsoft and Skype were waiting for regulatory approvals in several markets, primarily in Europe. The EU had previously fined Microsoft for antitrust behavior in January of 2009, prompting a close look at the Skype deal. “Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype’s goal to reach 1 billion users daily,” Bates said. Skype currently has more than 663 million users, with 170 million paying for a monthly subscription.
Now, Microsoft’s biggest challenge is to come up with a business plan that will make Skype profitable.
Source - Microsoft's Acquisition of Skype Is Now Official, Mashable.com
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