Post-Skype: Now What?
So, now that we've exhausted the Skype-eBay topic, some people (a.k.a.
as my brother, Sean, who has an MBA, CFA and a few other academic
letters) are wondering what the next M&A deal will be in the VOIP
world. He's wondering if Google will take a run at eBay/Skype, or
whether Yahoo will step up to the plate. And what about Microsoft,
which has spent years trying to move into the television industry let
alone the telecom business? “There's a whole of brokerage fee waiting
to happen,” Sean says. “Reminds me of the great financial services
consolidation wave in the late-1990s.” Clearly, Vonage
will be the next deal to happen although it will probably do an IPO
despite my belief it would rather be acquired. As for someone pursuing
eBay, it would be a $52-billion move (not including a takeover
premium), and I'm not sure Google and/or Yahoo has the appetite or
interest in making such an audacious move. As for the other VOIP
players (8×8, DeltaThree, et al), if anyone really wanted them, they would have been taken out already.
