eBay is to separate online telephone service Skype from its main business in a stockmarket flotation.
The online auction company has announced that it will launch a public offering of shares by the first half of 2010.
John Donahoe, eBay’s president and CEO, said: “Skype is a great stand-alone business with strong fundamentals and accelerating momentum.
“But it’s clear that Skype has limited synergies with eBay and PayPal. We believe operating Skype as a stand-alone publicly traded company is the best path for maximizing its potential. This will give Skype the focus and resources required to continue its growth and effectively compete in online voice and video communications.
“In addition, separating Skype will allow eBay to focus entirely on our two core growth engines – e-commerce and online payments 0- and deliver long-term value to our stockholders.”
In a statement, eBay said that in 2008, Skype generated revenues of $551 million, up 44% from 2007, with registered users reaching 405 million by the end of the year.
The company recently announced that it expects Skype to top $1 billion in revenue in 2011, nearly doubling 2008 revenues.
