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RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
NPR's business news starts with Microsoft buying Skype.
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MONTAGNE: The Internet phone service Skype will soon be part of Microsoft. The two companies' boards announced the agreement today. Microsoft will buy Skype for eight and a half billion dollars. Skype is currently owned by a group of investors who bought it from eBay in 2009, for about $2 billion in cash. The deal announced today would be Microsoft's biggest acquisition ever. Analysts describe it as a strategic move against Google. Skype offers Microsoft a major Internet brand name and a widely used phone technology that Microsoft could try and incorporate with its other products. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.