Need proof that eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) is taking its Skype acquisition seriously? The world's leading online auctioneer is opening up its coffers again to acquire smaller voice-communication specialist Sonorit.
As the parent company of Camino Networks, Sonorit will help beef up Skype's talent pool as it seeks to grow its already popular Internet-based telecommunications service.
eBay is already on the line for at least $2.6 billion with the Skype purchase. The Sonorit deal won't sting nearly as much. Sonorit will receive roughly 700,000 shares of eBay in the transaction, valuing the deal at $27 million -- roughly 1% of the bare minimum that Skype will cost eBay. Based on certain performance metrics, Skype's tab may ultimately top $4 billion.
eBay is giving Skype a fair deal of autonomy to help ensure that its new purchase has the best chance to succeed. A similar approach has worked well for eBay's PayPal and some of the auction site's overseas partnerships. Having already hooked users with its free computer-to-computer online service, Skype's is now offering paying members the opportunity to inexpensively call and receive calls from more conventional phone services, including landlines and mobile phones.
Skype's market is rapidly growing more crowded and competitive. Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) rolled out similar services at more attractive price points than Skype. Then Lycos came in and undercut them both. Time Warner's (NYSE:TWX) AOL and Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) MSN Messenger also plan to unveil similar voice-chat features in the coming months.
There's plenty at stake here. eBay has already made PayPal the transactional platform of choice for Skype customers' payments. It probably won't be long before eBay integrates Skype into its auction business as well, as a way for sellers and winning bidders to communicate following a successful auction.
Even if Sonorit is so small that it appears to be little more than a chew toy to eBay's new pet Skype, there's a method to the auction site's madness. It's making sure that Skype stays on top the way its flagship site and PayPal service have held on to their own pole positions.
eBay has risen 122% since being tapped as a Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter recommendation in June 2002. Time Warner has also been singled out in that newsletter, and Microsoft has been recommended to Inside Value subscribers.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is a satisfied eBay user, with 166 positive feedbacks to show for it. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. Rcik is a member of the Rule Breakers analytical team, seeking out the next great growth stock a day early.
