#2 Skype

Purchased for: $8.5 billion

Date: May 10, 2011

On 10 May 2011, Microsoft announced it had agreed to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion. Skype was already nearly synonymous with consumer video chatting when Microsoft scooped it up in the largest acquisition in the company's history. This marked a 300 percent increase in value for the company in the three years since the eBay write-down in October 2007. This constitutes Microsoft's largest ever acquisition.

It was announced that Skype will become a division within Microsoft. The price Microsoft agreed to pay for the company is 32 times Skype's operating profits. According to the Financial Times this raises fears of a new tech bubble.

In October 2012, one year on from the Skype acquisition closing, the newly formed Skype Division took responsibility for Microsoft's other VoIP and Unified Communications product Microsoft Lync .

Verdict: Huge hit.

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