The hottest news of the day, following the rumour about eBay who’s trying to get their hands on Skype, today an agreement has been made between both company – eBay and Skype Technologies SA – which involve $2.6B deal. eBay said that they would pay half the amount in cash and the other half in stocks to create “an unparalleled e-commerce and communications engine“.

“Communications is at the heart of e-commerce and community,” said eBay chief executive Meg Whitman. “By combining the two leading e-commerce franchises, eBay and PayPal, with the leader in internet voice communications, we will create an extraordinarily powerful environment for business on the net.”

Furthermore, the company said that the move would “strengthen eBay’s global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business“.

Niklas Zennstrom, the Skype’s chief executive, will join eBay’s senior management team. Regarding the deal, he said that it would help “revolutionise the ease with which people can communicate through the internet“.

Skype is currently the market leader in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) field. Using VoIP, computer user can make internet phone calls all around the world, and talk to each other via a headset or microphone and speakers. Users can also make cheap calls to landlines and mobile phones. Skype provides the free software to enable VoIP internet phone, as well as traditional instant messenger service.

[ Source ]