eBay has signed a deal to sell its Skype unit for a deal valued at $2.75 billion.

 

The online auctioning site signed a definitive agreement this week with a group of buyers, led by investor group Silver Lake, who will control a 65 percent stake. Other investors in this group include Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

 

Although it is separating Skype from its main business venture, eBay said it still believes that Skype (News - Alert) holds lots of promises as a standalone business venture. Skype can now make use of the technical expertise that is available with the new investor group and enhance its market position in the coming years.

 

eBay (News - Alert) announced plans to separate Skype from the company in April 2009. eBay said reached this decision after reviewing the performance of Skype within its portfolio. eBay has stated that it would naturally consider bids for Skype that offered an attractive valuation.

 

“This is a great deal, unlocking both immediate and long-term value for eBay and tremendous potential for Skype,” said eBay Inc., President and CEO John Donahoe. “We’ve acted decisively on a deal that delivers a high valuation, gives us significant cash up front and lets us retain a meaningful minority stake with talented partners. Skype is a strong standalone business, but it does not have synergies with our e-commerce.”

 

Earlier, TMCnet’s Gary Kim reported that Google (News - Alert) refused to make a bid for Skype, because of the sensitivity Skype poses for mobile service providers. He says as Google now is seeking to popularize its Android (News - Alert) operating system, discretion might have proven the better part of valor in this case. He predicts there will be no immediate implications of the sale for Skype’s business model.

 

Skype has strengthened considerably since early 2008, after being acquired by eBay in 2005. The company has introduced many innovations such as software upgrades with dramatically improved video and calling quality, the widely popular Skype iPhone (News - Alert) app and mobile partnerships with companies such as Nokia and Hutchison.