Ebay to mull Skype sale if synergies not strong: report
Online auction company EBay Inc.'s Chief Executive Meg Whitman addresses a news conference in Brussels February 7, 2006.
Credit: Reuters/Francois Lenoir
NEW YORK (Reuters) - EBay (EBAY.O) Inc will think about selling its Skype unit at the end of the year if it cannot find ways to make the Internet phone service aid its main online auction business, the Financial Times reported.
EBay's Chief Executive John Donahoe was quoted in an FT interview as saying: "If the synergies are strong, we'll keep it in our portfolio. If not, we'll reassess it."
The company had intended for the Skype acquisition to bolster its online business through call-billing payment tie-ins between Skype and eBay's PayPal online payments service, but Skype did not live up to expectations.
Donahue brushed aside speculation that eBay should also consider selling its PayPal service to prop up its stock value, the FT reported.
EBay representatives were not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman; Editing by Jason Neely)
