Skype might be bought by Cisco

THE RUMOUR MILL has spun out a yarn claiming that Cisco is about to buy the Voice over IP outfit Skype.

This is unexpected as Skype is getting set to go public. For Cisco to succeed in a bid it will have to write the cheque before that happens.

However TechCrunch claims it has a reliable source for this rumour and is standing by it.

Of course since Skype is about to go public it will not answer any questions about this and Cisco is not going to want to push up the perceived value of the company with loose talk.

However, for Cisco to buy Skype it will have to write a cheque with lots of zeros. The company is reportedly shooting for a net worth of $5 billion when it goes public.

Skype first appeared on the scene in August, 2003. It was bought by Ebay in September, 2005 for $1.9 billion. Later Ebay flogged 70 per cent of the company to a consortium led by Silver Lake Partners that also included CPPIB, Andreessen Horowitz and the original founders. µ