eBay announced plans to spin off Skype beginning with an initial public offering (IPO) that is intended to be completed in the first half of 2010. Specific timing of the IPO will be based on market conditions.

"Skype is a great stand-alone business with strong fundamentals and accelerating momentum," said eBay Inc.'s President and CEO, John Donahoe in a press release. "But it's clear that Skype has limited synergies with eBay and PayPal. We believe operating Skype as a stand-alone publicly traded company is the best path for maximizing its potential. This will give Skype the focus and resources required to continue its growth and effectively compete in online voice and video communications. In addition, separating Skype will allow eBay to focus entirely on our two core growth engines - e-commerce and online payments - and deliver long-term value to our stockholders."

eBay also divested itself of StumbleUpon, it revealed this week.