It’s quite amazing what the buyout from ebay has done to Skype. Now it suddenly is technology darling out there. Apparently Cisco is making an aggressive run for Skype.
Cisco has made an offer to acquire Skype before they complete their IPO process, says one of our more reliable sources. We have not been able to confirm this rumor one way or another via other sources, which isn’t surprising. A company in lock down during the IPO process is usually even more tight lipped than normal.
But if true this would be one very big acquisition. Skype insiders are hoping for an out of the gate valuation of $5 billion or so, we’ve heard. Presumably Cisco would have to bidding in that range to make it interesting.
Google was also rumored to be sniffing around Skype, but antitrust concerns may have persuaded them not to make an actual offer.
Cisco has done a great job with WebEx. This would be a similar but much bigger play. It makes sense for Cisco and would provide nice returns for Andereesen and his freinds.