VoIP services provider Skype announced that it has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of shares. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are joint global coordinators as well as joint book-running managers for the offering. The SEC filing shows Skype had 560 million registered users at the end of June. In the second quarter, the number of average monthly users of the VoIP service was 124 million, up from 91 million a year earlier, while paying users grew to 8.1 million from 6.6 million over the same period. In the first six months of 2010, the company generated adjusted EBITDA of USD 115.8 million, up 53.9 percent from a year earlier on revenues of USD 406.2 million, up 25.1 percent year-on-year. Net profit over the period fell to USD 13.1 million from USD 22.5 million, due mainly to the costs of financing the debt taken out for the company's acquisition from Ebay by private equity groups. Skype said it targets further revenue and profit growth by expanding its user base, growing the number of paid users with the introduction of more tailored calling plans and services such as video calls, expanding its advertising and licensing revenues and launching more products for business users. Skype did not specify in the filing what it plans to do with the proceeds of the IPO, saying only they are intended for "general corporate purposes". The company had cash of USD 85.5 million at the end of June and total debt of USD 727.9 million.
