WWW - Posts tagged Janus Friis at BloggingStocks

Janus Friis posts

Skype's founders go nuclear on the $1.8 billion buyout

Posted Sep 18th 2009 2:30PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: eBay (EBAY), Private Equity

Attorneys must love the founders of Skype -- Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who filed yet another lawsuit. This one is against the former CEO of Joost, Mike Volpi, as well as Index Ventures. The claim is that the defendants breached their fiduciary responsibilities to Joost by brokering the $1.9 billion buyout of Skype, which is currently owned by eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY). One of the investors in the proposed deal is Index Ventures (and Volpi recently became a partner of the firm).

Keep in mind that on Wednesday, the Skype founders filed a lawsuit -- against eBay, Silver Lake Partners, Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board -- for copyright infringement. They believe that their company, Joltid, owns key intellectual property for the Skype platform and that eBay is in violation of the terms.

Continue reading Skype's founders go nuclear on the $1.8 billion buyout

eBay seeks a buyer for Skype

Posted Aug 28th 2009 12:00PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: eBay (EBAY), Private Equity

While eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) said earlier this year that it was planning to spin off Skype in an initial public offering in 2010, it is now being reported that eBay is looking for a buyer willing to pay $2 billion or more for the internet telephone service provider.

Those interested in a buyout may include Andreesen Horowitz and Index Ventures, which were early investors in Skype before its eBay acquisition in 2005. A group of well-known venture capital and large private equity firms are pooling resources to join the bid, according to a source close to the deal.

Continue reading eBay seeks a buyer for Skype

Skype founders look to make a deal with eBay

Posted Apr 12th 2009 11:40AM by Zac Bissonnette (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals, eBay (EBAY)

It's universally believed that eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) overpaid badly for its $3.1 billion acquisition of Skype, a revolutionary online phone company that, regardless of how cool it happens to be, doesn't generate a lot of income or fit with eBay's core business in any meaningful way.

When Meg Whitman retired as CEO, John Donahoe replaced her and has said repeatedly that he is open to selling Skype.

Continue reading Skype founders look to make a deal with eBay