eBay said Friday that the investor group led by Silver Lake has reached a settlement agreement with Joltid Limited and Joost N.V. that gives Skype ownership over all software licensed from Joltid and ends all litigation against the investor group and eBay at the closing of the acquisition.
As part of the settlement agreement, Joltid and Skype founders Niklas Zennstrm and Janus Friis will join the investor group, contributing Joltid software and making a significant capital investment in exchange for a 14 percent stake in Skype. As a result, Silver Lake and other investors including Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), will together hold 56 percent of Skype and eBay will retain 30 percent.
eBay will receive $1.9 billion in cash when the sale is complete and a note from the buyer worth $125 million. The deal, which values Skype at $2.75 billion, is set to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.
“Skype will be well positioned to move forward under new owners with ownership and control over its core technology,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe.
“At the same time, eBay continues to retain a significant stake in Skype and will benefit from its continued growth. We look forward to closing the deal and focusing on growing our core ecommerce and payments businesses.”
The investor group will no longer include Index Ventures. The Skype founders had filed a lawsuit charging Index and its partner Michelangelo Volpi of using confidential information in their bid to purchase a 65 percent stake in Skype.
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