eBay to buy Skype for $2.6 billion in cash, stock | CNET News.com

Skype expects to generate $60 million in revenue this year and more than $200 million during 2006, Skype's chief operating officer, Michael Jackson, said in a joint interview with Dutta. The company has yet to post a profit, he said, adding that business users account for 25 percent of Skype's audience.

As of October 2004, Skype had raised $24 million from several private equity firms including Mangrove Capital Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Bessemer Venture Partners and Index Ventures.

While allowing potential benefits from providing communications services between buyers and sellers, particularly in China, Goldman Sachs analyst Anthony Noto said in a note to clients Friday that a licensing partnership could accomplish this without requiring eBay to buy Skype.

"We struggle to see enough of a benefit to the marketplace from offering this service to get a sufficient return on a potential multibillion-dollar price tag," Noto wrote.