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Update: paidContent.org is reporting that eBay CEO John Donahoe says that the company is "still open to other offers" and that he will “maximize the value of Skype. Period." Any "reasonable offers" made between now and 2010 (when the proposed IPO is scheduled) will be evaluated.

Original article: eBay announced today that it does indeed plan to separate Skype from the company. This is to begin with an IPO in the first half of next year. The specific time will be based on market conditions, the company says.

"Skype is a great stand-alone business with strong fundamentals and accelerating momentum," said eBay Inc.'s President and CEO, John Donahoe. "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," he continued. "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 says the decision to separate Skype is based on a timeline outlined by Donahoe when he became eBay's CEO in April 2008. Back then, the company said it would spend a year evaluating Skype and its potential synergies within the eBay portfolio before making any decisions about Skype's future.

The news comes after a couple of days of back and forth on whether or not Skype was breaking away from eBay or not. Yesterday, it was announced that StumbleUpon is also breaking away. eBay announced a ton of new features to its popular, yet highly criticized marketplace today as well.

Skype is expected to top $1 billion in revenue in 2011.