EU approves Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype

2011-10-08 15:50:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- The European Union (EU) on Friday announced that its Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of Internet voice and video communication provider Skype by U.S. computer software enterprise Microsoft Corporation.

The Commission approved the acquisition under the EU Merger Regulation, arguing that the deal would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

The acquisition proposal was first announced on May 10 when Microsoft said it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Skype S.A. for $8.5 billion, after the boards of directors of both companies approved the agreement.

With around 663 million users worldwide, Skype, which is based in Luxembourg, is the world's most popular Internet communications service company, and the acquisition is expected to provide a big push for Microsoft's online services. It is expected to support several of Microsoft's devices such as the Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone, and connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities.

The EU Commission said that there were no competition concerns in this growing market since numerous players, including Google, are present. Microsoft, the Commission explained, is active through its Windows Live Messenger, and the investigation found that the parties' activities mainly overlap for video communications.

Meanwhile, the Commission also said Skype and Microsoft do not compete directly with each other in the enterprise communications sector as Skype has a limited market presence for these products while Microsoft's Lync is used mostly by large enterprises.

Founded in 2003, Skype was acquired by eBay in September 2005 and then acquired by an investment group led by Silver Lake in November 2009.

Under Silver Lake's leadership, monthly calling minutes have increased by 150 percent over the past 18 months, developing new revenue streams and strategic partnerships, acquiring the intellectual property powering its peer-to-peer network, and recruiting an outstanding senior management team.

In 1989, the Commission was given the power to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds in order to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.

The agreement represents Microsoft's biggest acquisition ever.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-08

Moved to Internet Forum

Last time I posted a comment about Mr. Jobs demise, which was on Thursday, my PC was promptly hacked and crashed....needless to say, this will seriously impede my meaningful participation in any forums...so much for freedom of speech...

Last time I posted a comment about Mr. Jobs demise, which was on Thursday, my PC was promptly hacked and crashed....needless to say, this will seriously impede my meaningful participation in any forums...so much for freedom of speech...

Paranoid much?

The effort involved in tracking you down, then hacking past the various protections on your network and computer would be really disproportionate for a simple comment on a forum.

And even if you had upset a genius hacker who suddenly decided to spend so much time going after you, he wouldn't have simply crashed your computer but made sure you understood why that was happening.

Last time I posted a comment about Mr. Jobs demise, which was on Thursday, my PC was promptly hacked and crashed....needless to say, this will seriously impede my meaningful participation in any forums...so much for freedom of speech...

Paranoid much?

The effort involved in tracking you down, then hacking past the various protections on your network and computer would be really disproportionate for a simple comment on a forum.

And even if you had upset a genius hacker who suddenly decided to spend so much time going after you, he wouldn't have simply crashed your computer but made sure you understood why that was happening.

Weirder things have been happening on the web these days...then its is a big coincidence...and coincidentally it happened once before....I have an open mind and exchange views with many 'fringe' groups...so I do have to wonder...and we have to be naive to think that NO monitoring is going on...this would rule out undue effort or genius necessary

Last time I posted a comment about Mr. Jobs demise, which was on Thursday, my PC was promptly hacked and crashed....needless to say, this will seriously impede my meaningful participation in any forums...so much for freedom of speech...

Paranoid much?

The effort involved in tracking you down, then hacking past the various protections on your network and computer would be really disproportionate for a simple comment on a forum.

And even if you had upset a genius hacker who suddenly decided to spend so much time going after you, he wouldn't have simply crashed your computer but made sure you understood why that was happening.

Weirder things have been happening on the web these days...then it is a big coincidence...and coincidentally it happened once before....I have an open mind and exchange views with many 'fringe' groups...so I do have to wonder...and we have to be naive to think that NO monitoring is going on...this would rule out undue effort or genius necessary

OFF-TOPIC TALK ABOVE

In a comment to OP: Good, let's hope WP7 gets a Skype client soon then.

Will Windows Live now become Windows Really Live??

Guess we'll be getting more adverts on Skype

Oh well should keep the phone companies happy skype will now be so screwed up people will be happy to pay land-line costs