Microsoft expects Skype buyout to close by October
updated 02:50 pm EDT, Fri July 22, 2011
$8.5 billion deal on track subjet to EU scrutiny
Tony Bates, Skype's CEO said yesterday that he expected Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of the Internet voice and video services provider to be completed by October. The transaction still requires approval from the EU's regulatory bodies, but he expects that, as in the US, it will proceed smoothly. Once that happens, it should only be a matter of a couple of months.
Bates made his comments during a session at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference being held this week in Aspen, Colorado.
Bates went on to say that Skype would remain a stand-alone entity, and that he expected to remain as president, at parity with the presidents of Microsoft's five other business units. He added that he believed the highly visible Skype brand would remain untouched.
