Internet-based phone service Skype filed with U.S. regulators on Monday to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering of American Depositary Shares.
The filing for the company, which also allows users to have online video and text conversations, did not specify the number of shares Skype would sell or give an expected price range, but it did say the company expects to trade on the Nasdaq.
In the first half of 2010, the company's 560 million registered users logged 95 billion minutes of Skype voice and video calls, according to a regulatory filing. Net revenue rose 25.1 percent to $406.2 million in the first half of 2010 compared with a year earlier.
Skype's competitors include Google Inc, Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc and Yahoo Inc. In May, Google acquired Global IP Solutions, which develops real-time voice and video technology similar to Skype's.
Skype also competes with telecommunications and wireless companies, which offer services that Skype lacks, such as emergency calling and bundled packages that combine Internet, television and phone services.
Skype was founded in 2003 and acquired by eBay Inc in 2005. EBay in 2009 sold a majority stake in Skype to a group of investors including Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz. The filing did not specify which shareholders would sell in the IPO or how many new shares would be sold.
EBay shares were up 2.6 percent in early trading on the Nasdaq.
Underwriters on Skype's IPO are being led by Goldman Sachs & Co, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley.
