14 DAY TRIAL // While Skype has been looking forward towards an IPO, it seems that it's evaluating other options as well, such as partnerships or even an acquisition with the likes of Facebook and Google. There's nothing official, obviously, but independent sources tell Reuters that there have been talks with both companies.
One source says that Facebook is thinking about buying Skype altogether.
It's an obvious fit for the company, voice and video chat would be a great addition to Facebook and several hundred million Skype users would be a nice bonus as well.
But there hasn't been anything concrete in this direction, it's just something Facebook is evaluating. However, it seems that the company did talk to Skype about a joint venture of sorts.
What this joint venture would entail is unknown, but it seems that Google has also made a similar proposition to the VoIP company.
If Facebook did decide to buy Skype, it is expected to pay $3 billion to $4 billion for the company. It's no drop in the bucket, but it's not a sum Facebook would have trouble finding, as long as it's not an all-cash deal.
Skype doesn't need any introduction, it the biggest VoIP service out there and popularized both voice chat and video chat to the degree that the company's name is synonymous with those actions.
But a number of competitors as well as the ever-changing web threatens its position. It's not making any huge amounts of money either.
Skype has announced that it's going to go public, it has postponed it a few times already in fact, but is still on track for an IPO sometime later this year. If it does file for an IPO, it expects raise about $1 billion, sources say.
But it's exploring other options such partnering with either Facebook, Google or other companies as well. It's unclear whether Skype has any favorites so far or which route it prefers.