Wednesday, May 17, 2006

GigaOM : ? Will SkypeFree KO Vonage IPO?

GigaOM : ? Will SkypeFree KO Vonage IPO?: "The buzz on the Street is that the Vonage IPO is on the rocks. They HAVE to raise money or they are in a world of hurt. Their investors don't want to put another penny in and the company seems to still be bleeding cash, $75 million in the first quarter of 2006. Geez, Vonage is begging customers to buy 20% of the deal - not a great sign.
Ebay knows this, why not toy with the mouse before you kill it. What better way to do away with the Vonage IPO and raise their cost of capital then scare investors even more. Every prospective buyer on this deal asking the same questions: what about pricing, why will anyone pay a flat fee per month when skype connects in the US for 2 cents a minute. $25 per month to Vonage is the equivalent of 1250 minutes."

The scary part: in the midst of Bubble v2, it probably won't matter -- i.e., the IPO will go ahead anyway.

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