With 3 companies fighting for Skype (Microsoft, Facebook and Google) it can only end well, for the owners.
Reports- Microsoft close to $8.5 billion Skype deal – Business – US business – msnbc.com
“The deal is affordable for Microsoft, which has $50 billion in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet.”
I don’t consider it affordable to bite off 17% of your capital to buy an unprofitable company. Microsoft can’t save itself by acquiring companies that don’t bring more profit.