Skype files for IPO on NASDAQ

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 10 August 2010 05:59

IT Industry - Market

Skype has lodged an application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of its shares, but it has yet to become effective and Skype says the number of shares to be offered and the price range have yet to be determined.

However Skype has given an estimated figure of $US100m maximum in order to calculate the filing fee and says: "We intend to use the net proceeds received by us in connection with this offering for general corporate purposes."

In its filing Skype says it plans to grow and diversify its sources of revenue in four specific areas. In addition to signing up more users and getting customers to make more use of paid services Skype says: "We will continue to develop new monetisation models for our large connected user base. We currently generate a small portion of our net revenues through marketing services (such as advertising) and licensing, which we expect will grow as a percentage of our net revenues over time.

"[Also] we will broaden our user base to include more business users. For example, we have recently released and will continue to develop and market Skype for Business products that aim to capitalise on demand for Skype from small, medium and large businesses."

Skype says it does not anticipate making any dividends or other distributions on its ordinary shares in the foreseeable future. "We anticipate that we will retain all of our available funds for use in the operation and development of our business."

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