Skypes Plans To Go Public Delayed

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January 28 2011 @ 09:27

Skype‘s plans to go public are in still in tact, but the Internet-based calling provider doesnt expect to hold an IPO now until the second half of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported this week.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal said Skypes recent hiring of a new CEO, plus uncertainties in the IPO market and the economy have slowed the companys planned offering.

The Journal said some investors had expected Skype to hold an IPO sooner. Citing one source, the Journal said Skype would not go public until at least July.

In October, Skype announced appointing Cisco executive Tony Bates as its new CEO.

Skype is one of the biggest players in the international telephone market. As of October, the company reported that 124 million people actively connected to its service each month.

By downloading the companys software on a computer, Skype members with an Internet connection can talk to each other for free all around the world. Skype also supports paid subscribers who can place calls to and receive calls from mobile and fixed telephone networks.

But only a fraction of Skypes users are paying subscribers. During the three-month period ending June 30, 2010, paying users represented roughly 7 percent of the companys connected members, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In November 2009, eBay sold a 70 percent interest in Skype to an investor group in a deal that valued the company at $2.75 billion. Several months later, Skype announced plans to go public. In an SEC filing, Skype disclosed that it brought home net income of $13.1 million and net revenues of $406.2 million during the first six months of 2010.

Skype was founded in 2003 and is based in Luxembourg.