Skype proposes floating an IPO

VOICE OVER IP AND CHAT communications firm Skype has started the process of selling shares to the public.

The firm has filed its intention to sell shares but not how many and nor for how much. Goldman Sachs, J P Morgan and Morgan Stanley will be the lead underwriters for the initial public offering (IPO), which will be limited to US buyers only, it said.

Last year Ebay sold off most of its interest in Skype to a private equity firm and got rid of 65 per cent of the business for about $2 billion. This sale could mean that the firm reappears with a new boss, and a new plan for increasing its revenues.

In the short term, the company might look to recoup some of the money spent during its long-running patent disagreement with Net2Phone. Net2Phone had complained that Skype might have been using IP technology created by it. It sued Ebay and Skype in 2006, and last week the issue was settled.

Financial details of the share issue have not been released, but some commentators are speculating that the IPO could raise up to $100 million. However that many shares likely won't be enough to lead to a change of control. µ