Dealmakers in the Spotlight
Veteran Silicon Valley dealmakers Keith Flaum and Jane Ross helped eBay Inc. buy Skype Technologies S.A. in 2005. But the two companies never melded, and last summer, eBay deployed the Cooley Godward Kronish team again to help unload a controlling stake in Skype. While negotiating the carve-out, Flaum was secretly negotiating his own future. In July he announced that he was jumping to Dewey & LeBoeuf. Ross soon followed. EBay deputy general counsel Brian Levey, though caught by surprise, said the transition was seamless. A $2 billion sale to a group led by Silver Lake Partners was announced on September 1. In negotiations, Flaum and Ross showed an uncanny knack for seeing several moves ahead, Levey says. They’ll need it: In mid-September a new infringement suit over Skype’s core software threatened to derail the close.
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