Skype files for IPO

Global Internet telephony juggernaut Skype has filed plans for an initial public offering, a long-rumored move that comes four years after Web auction giant Ebay acquired the firm but several months after Ebay sold its controlling stake.

Pricing and timing of the IPO has not yet been announced. The registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission states that Skype had 560 million registered users worldwide as of June 30, a year-over-year increase of almost 50%.

Skype in recent months has made strides in establishing partnerships with traditional service providers, most significantly Verizon Wireless, which could eventually result in Skype apps proliferating across many Verizon service platforms. The Luxembourg-based company also recently established a new U.S. operations base in Silicon Valley. At the same time, Skype faces the prospect of increasing competition from the likes of Google, Apple and fring.

After acquiring Skype in 2006, Ebay late last year sold most of the company to a consortium of investors, including Silver Lake Partners, Marc Andreessen’s investment firm Andreessen Horowitz and Joltid, a company run by Skype’s original founders. Ebay still holds a 30% stake in Skype. That deal reportedly valued the company at about $2.75 billion.

The Skype IPO would be the biggest voice-over-IP-related IPO since Vonage’s controversial 2006 IPO and the most significant high-tech IPO since Google went public in 2004.