NEW YORK - the owners of Skype, conducted by private equity Silver Lake, are set to win more than three times their investment, for a gain in total capital of over $ 5 billion of dollars on the sale of Skype to Microsoft Corp., are a source familiar with the situation said.
The gain is particularly important given the short period of time, investors have owned internet telephone service Skype - about 18 months - since the purchase of a controlling interest of eBay. It is a short reversal of private capital which usually invests with a horizon of three to five years.
The price of $ 8.5 billion, that Skype is Commander of Microsoft reflects the premium placed on hot social media properties and the number of potential buyers.
Microsoft to acquire Skype was announced Monday.
Skype, which is considering an IPO, attracted the interest of the parties, including Facebook and Google sources.
Cisco was interested also, said a source. Cisco was not immediately available for comment.
One of the concerns of Skype and its owners were able to was whether they have been side spend substantially more, giving climbing donning companies such as Facebook and gather on assessments.
Which might explain the six weeks, it took for Microsoft and Skype to reach agreement. Microsoft decided to make an unsolicited offer with the final price before April 18, he said.
"It's not as if the transaction is grouped together in five days, he is met in recent weeks," said a source familiar with the deal. "They have had time to digest the price, they have had the time to understand the parameters of the contract and then finally find the final pieces.
For Microsoft, the stakes are high. Grand software manufacturer most has been plagued by a string of setbacks, including the acquisition of Yahoo Inc. failure and a hesitant start in the arena of mobile phone today dominated by Google Inc. and Apple Inc..
He decided against hiring investment banks to help with the transaction. Microsoft said that it has decided to appeal directly to the property of Skype base with Silver Lake taking the lead.
BUMPER RETURN
The Group of investors led by Silver Lake bought a majority stake in Skype to eBay in 2009 - during the crisis of credit - 1.9 billion in cash and a note of $ 125 million. EBay retains approximately one-third of the company.
"It took a lot of belief in investing in the summer 2009," said Egon Durban, CEO of Silver Lake. "We made the largest investment in the history of our company and has had the courage to invest." "But I also believe that Microsoft has a real tour to make this company a value of three to four times more and they pay for it."
Private equity firms can gain high returns on investments if timed and executed the right. These statements can reap significant rewards for managers of private equity funds - which usually take 20 per cent of the profits running.
The rate of return for the Skype agreement - a key for private capital investors measure - internal was 70 to 80%, said the source who spoke to Reuters. It is much higher than a typical return of private capital.
EBay, which holds a minority stake in Skype, said that he made a total return of $ 1.4 billion on its initial investment.
Durban said that Skype capable of "the intersection of three very powerful macro trends" - social, video and mobile communications.
He said that, over the past 18 months, Silver Lake and other investors had achievements such as the acquisition of Skype's intellectual property, disputes with the founders of the company, a new executive recruitment team and sign partnerships with companies such as VerizonCitrixSamsung, Panasonic, Sony and LG.
"We have always thought that Skype... has been misinterpreted and underestimated by people through its entire lifetime," said Marc Andreessen, who heads the VCs Andreessen Horowitz company, which is an investor in Skype.
"I think it's great to see Microsoft take this seriously and really value it for what it is."
Skype investment is one of the largest capital gains on the investment of private capital, said the first source.
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