Earlier today, online auction giant eBay announced it plans to spin off Skype, its Internet phone company, as a public company next year. How much could it be worth?
In a note, JPMorgan analyst Imran Khan estimates that Skype's 2010 net revenue could reach $740 million, with EBITDA of roughly $156 million. At a 10-20X EBITDA multiple, that suggests Skype could be worth $1.6 billion to $3.1 billion as a standalone company, Khan says.
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eBay bought Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005, and paid another $530 million in earnouts to Skype shareholders. But it also took a $1.43 billion asset-impairment charge in Oct. 2007, assigning a $1.7 billion value to Skype.
