UPDATE: Microsoft acquires Skype at $8.5 billion, deal sealed

UPDATE: Late last week, we had reported about the European Union giving its clearance to Microsoft's ambitions of acquiring Skype. Now, a thin strip running through Skype's official website confirms the marriage between the software giant, Microsoft and the Internet calling service, Skype. It has now been confirmed that Microsoft has officially acquired Skype for a whopping $8.5 billion. 

The post on Skype confirming the acquisition

Also the official website of Skype carries a post by Tony Bates, now the President of the Skype Division of the Microsoft, a part of it reads - "I am delighted to announce the deal with Microsoft has formally closed, and Skype is now a division of Microsoft. This represents a huge leap forward in Skype's mission to be the communications choice for a billion people every day." To view the complete statement, click here. Microsoft, too has an announcement post on its site, titled - "Microsoft Officially Welcomes Skype", to view it, click here

The official announcement

Over the past few months, news about the technology giant, Microsoft’s plans of buying out the widely used internet calling service, Skype has gained a lot of prominence, and this can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, Microsoft had announced that it was willing to buy Skype for a whopping $8.5 billion; thereby giving Skype’s shining reputation a major facelift. Secondly, with the popularity of Skype coming under the wings of a giant like Microsoft, industry analysts, tech enthusiasts, alike were quite sure that great things were on their way. However, all this while EU had not given its approval to the entire deal, despite the U.S. Federal Trade Commission agreeing to its terms.

It's a go!

However, now, a report in the Times of India confirms that the EU has finally given its approval to the deal, signaling that the deal can now go through. Microsoft wished to get in a new breed of users for its popular Office and Windows software, and believes that with Skype on their side, they could look towards achieving that. It was also confirmed that the deal would not cause any rifts in the market in which Microsoft exists, along with several other technological biggies. Those who’ve been reading through our regular reports in this respect would know that Facebook and Google too were rumored to have been in the race for acquiring Skype.

A few months ago, it was also revealed that Microsoft’s Windows Phone would come equipped with Skype video calling, which is definitely a huge plus, considering the popularity of the service.