Microsoft buys Skype: it is no longer a rumor or a hypothesis but an official announcement. The VoIP telephony giant has been acquired by the Redmond house for the sum of 8.5 billion euros.
We only reported on the rumor yesterday about Microsoft’s desire to acquire Skype: less than 24 hours later, we’re back to discuss the outcome.
Well, Microsoft has indeed acquired Skype for $8.5 billion.
Evidently, negotiations were conducted in the utmost secrecy, which may have even caught the other two contenders, Google and Facebook, off guard.
Skype will be useful for Microsoft’s business segment, we said yesterday: a confirmed circumstance, certainly, but it won’t be the only application of Skype within Microsoft’s products and projects. The intention, in fact, is to be able to integrate free calls and VoIP also on “Microsoft devices such as Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone, and a wide variety of Windows devices“, as stated in the official press release issued by Microsoft’s press office.
Green light, therefore, for the Microsoft Skype Division, which will see CEO Tony Bates at its helm, reporting directly to Steve Ballmer, one level up.
Only the approval of the authorities responsible for overseeing these types of deals is pending, but on this front, there should be no issues whatsoever.
The news of the acquisition of Skype by Microsoft is interesting not only for the concrete applications we will see in the coming months; the other aspect to highlight is that this is the most expensive acquisition in Redmond’s history.
A masterstroke, there’s no doubt about it: while the media and investors were looking at the giants Facebook and Google, Microsoft managed to act away from the spotlight, securing this acquisition.
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