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UPDATE 2-Skype suitors reach legal pact, eBay deal to proceed

Fri Nov 6, 2009 8:44pm IST
 
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* Investor group settles with Skype founders

* Index Ventures no longer included in deal

* eBay to get $1.9 bln cash, $125 mln note

* Deal values Skype at $2.75 billion

(Adds details of deal, investor quote)

NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - EBay Inc (EBAY.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday that private investors looking to buy Skype had agreed to settle litigation with Skype's founders, who will get a 14-percent stake in the Internet phone service in the transaction.

EBay, which is selling Skype in order to focus on its core online auction and payments business, said the group led by Silver Lake reached a settlement with Joltid and Joost, the companies of Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis.

Under the agreement, Silver Lake and 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.

The buyers will no longer include Index Ventures. The Skype founders had filed a lawsuit accusing Index and its partner Michelangelo Volpi of using confidential information in their bid to acquire a 65 percent stake in Skype.  Continued...

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