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Google, Facebook Calling Skype About Possible Tie-Up: Report

Update 12:30 p.m. EDT: Representatives from Skype and Google have e-mailed to say that their respective companies do not comment on “rumor and speculation.” Update 3:00 p.m. EDT: And now Facebook emails to say that it, too, does not comment on “rumor and speculation.” Google and Facebook have both had discussions with internet telephony pioneer […]

Update 12:30 p.m. EDT: Representatives from Skype and Google have e-mailed to say that their respective companies do not comment on "rumor and speculation."

*Update 3:00 p.m. EDT: And now Facebook emails to say that it, too, does not comment on "rumor and speculation."
*

Google and Facebook have both had discussions with internet telephony pioneer Skype about a possible joint venture, according to a Reuters report. Additionally, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has had what Reuters calls "internal" discussions about the possibility of buying Skype outright.

The Reuters report, which cites two anonymous sources, comes three months after Skype delayed its highly anticipated IPO following the hiring of a new CEO, former Cisco executive Tony Bates.

One of the sources cited by Reuters said that an outright buyout of Skype could value the company at between $3 billion and $4 billion.

In November 2009, eBay sold 70 percent of Skype to a consortium of private investors led by private equity firm Silver Lake. Netscape founder Marc Andreessen's firm, Andreessen Horowitz, was also part of the group, as were Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis.

That transaction followed an acrimonious soap opera about Skype's fate, complete with lawsuits and accusations of back-stabbing, dishonesty and outright theft.

Private equity investors are just that -- investors -- so it's natural that Silver Lake and friends would be looking for an exit, whether it's an IPO or a sale.

That said, it's hard to see why Google would want to buy Skype, given that the search giant already has its own internet phone service, tightly integrated into Gmail and Google Voice.

A Skype deal with Facebook is more plausible, since voice communication is one thing the world's largest social network lacks, and it would seem an overwhelming number of members want it. And Facebook certainly has the resources to acquire whatever it wants.

Then again, this may be just another example of that old Silicon Valley adage: "Everybody talks to everybody."

All of the discussions are in "early stages," Reuters said, adding that "it is not clear which option the companies favor."

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