Microsoft finalized the acquisition of Skype
Microsoft announced that its acquisition of Skype has been finalized. The company confirmed that it had closed the deal, and revealed that Skype CEO Tony Bates will now report directly to Steve Ballmer in his new role as president of the new Skype Division of Microsoft. Skype employees will continue to be located around the world in offices including Estonia, the Czech Republic, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States. Microsoft has vowed to continue support for the service’s standalone client, which allows voice and video calls, as well as instant messaging, to be placed over an IP connection.
“Joining forces with Microsoft is the best way to accelerate this mission and capitalize on our position at the intersection of social, mobile and video communications,” said Tony Bates. “Simply put, we want to transform communications. We will do this by building the best products in the world that allow all of us to do things together whenever we’re apart and by creating teams who work faster and smarter across the globe building those world-class products.”