Skype officially a division of Microsoft
After receiving approval from authorities in Europe early last week, Microsoft’s purchase of Skype for US$8.5 billion has finally been signed off.
The deal was first announced in May, and received a seal of approval from the US in June, so it was no surprise it took less than a week from the European consent to the final announcement.
Tony Bates, former CEO and now president of Skype, says in a post on the Microsoft blog that joining forces with Microsoft was the best way to accelerate the company’s mission of becoming the communications tool of choice for a billion people every day.
"Microsoft is committed to the ubiquity of the Skype experience,” Bates says.
"And we’ve only scratched the surface.”
Commentators have suggested now that the deal has been finalised the next step will be integration with Microsoft’s Office 365, which launched in June.
