Skype to be sold off

According to The Independent, Skype will not be sold to News Corp. News Corp was late to the internet game, but the new Fox Interactive Media unit did some interesting take-overs so far. And they are willing to pay fat prices. Skype was to be worth $3bn. An outrageous price, for a piece of software that has grown into a mega company using viral marketing only. So far, there are 45 million users, but only about 1.5 million of them subscribe to for-pay services (SkypeIn, SkypeOut, Skype Voicemail, Skype Zones).

Who's next? Yahoo! is still in the running (even though they bought Dialpad), maybe Google. And possibly even Apple, to strengthen the iPod offerring to include wireless telephony.
Look at the effect on share prices of possible take-over candidates:

COMMERCE % (3 months)
Bluefly 34%
Homestore 73%
Overstock.com 23%
Blue Nile 18%

CONTENT
Audible.com 15%
CNet Networks 37%
iVillage 16%
TheStreet.com 30%

SERVICES
Ameritrade 83%
E*Trade 35%
E Loan 37%
Binck 54%
Akamai 31%
Aquantive 40%
Monster 28%
Netflix 83%
ValueClick 40%

SEARCH
MIVA (formerly FindWhat.com) 30%