Skype, the pioneering video chatting and VOIP calling service, has recently been entertaining offers from very high profile suitors, according to a new Reuters report. Facebook and Google, eternal sparring partners over Internet supremacy, are both said to have entered talks with Skype to discuss buying it out. According to Reuters' source, Mark Zuckerberg himself has been playing with the idea and may also consider forming a joint venture with Skype.
Skype, which has essentially already been bought twice (once by eBay in 2005 for $2.6 billion and again in 2009 by an investment consortium for $2.75 billion), has been expected to have an initial public offering this year. But with the video and VOIP calling business becoming crowded thanks to Apple's FaceTime, Google Chat and even T-Mobile's Bobsled, the company may decide to strike a deal with a bigger partner instead. According to the talks, Skype's value today is estimated around $3 or 4 billion.
Facebook perhaps stands to gain the most from buying Skype. The social network doesn't have any video or VOIP options currently, something its largely international user base would certainly be interested in.
[SAI]
