Internet communications company Skype has announced a proposed initial public offering to raise around $100 million (£63.5 million).
Internet communications company Skype has announced a proposed initial public offering to raise around $100 million (£63.5 million).
The Luxembourg-based company was sold by eBay in November 2009 for $1.9 billion to a consortium of investors led by private equity firm Silver Lake. The deal valued Skype at $2.75 billion and eBay retained a 35 per cent stake in the company.
Although the proposed Skype float has caused excitement among dealmakers, scepticism remains about it heralding a surge of companies moving to the public markets.
Mike Chalfen, a partner at Advent Venture Partners, comments: ‘Skype is a sexy global brand with a growing market so of course this makes a good IPO story. But I don’t believe that the Skype announcement is a great harbinger of hope for European IPOs. If anything it shows that the bar is high.
‘Let’s not forget that NXP just cut its IPO price by 33 percent to get it away, and strong performers like Qliktech could only get away three years after they were clearly ready.’
