Skype is going to go public as a standalone entity in early 2010, eBay announced this afternoon. It bought Skype in 2005 for $2.6 billion in deal that never seemed to make sense.

I wonder if this will be a milestone, marking the return of tech IPOs. Or could it be a negotiation tactic, to get someone to buy Skype before the offering?

EBay Chief Executive John Donahoe's statement in the release:

"Skype is a great stand-alone business with strong fundamentals and accelerating momentum. 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."