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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/voip/0,3800004463,39151220,00.htm

Keep Skype independent, says shareholder
'Don't let anyone get their hands on it'

By Reuters

Published: Wednesday 10 August 2005

A top shareholder in Skype said on Monday it wants to see the fast-growing internet telecoms software firm stay independent after a report of failed takeover talks with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Timothy Draper, managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a Californian venture capital firm which he says owns between 10 and 20 per cent of Skype, said: "The company [Skype] is worth a lot more independent."

"I would prefer that it [Skype] remains independent," Draper told Reuters in a telephone interview.

By allowing users to make free phone calls around the world on the internet, Skype is regarded as one of the biggest threats for telecoms operators. Founded just two years ago, it already counts more than 48 million registered users.

Draper added: "Skype is in a wonderful strategic position; it's becoming the standard communication platform for more and more people."

The Independent on Sunday reported that News Corp had approached Skype with an offer of just under $3bn (£2bn). The paper said talks had collapsed but added Skype could be taken over shortly, without citing sources.

Draper declined to be drawn on News Corp's reported approach or any other potential bids while Skype would not comment on the report.

Skype was co-founded by Swedish businessmen Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström.

Zennström also created Kazaa, the file-sharing software that allows users to download music from the internet for free and caused much pain to record companies. He sold the Kazaa name in 2002 amid a growing number of court cases but kept the technology.

Several European telecoms groups including BT Group, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and Swisscom have already started adopting VoIP to retain customers and stop haemorrhaging revenue.

In May, Zennström told Reuters Skype was not planning to go public or sell out but did not exclude the possibility of floating at some point.

Luxembourg-based Skype, which is expecting to be cash-positive at the end of the year, had by October 2004 raised $24m mainly from venture capital firms.