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Re:Skype mess: How far will this go? by hollerith on Saturday June 25, 2011 @01:05PM (#2696048)
>it is unreasonable to imply that they could (let alone should) have made Skype's existing employee stock purchase agreements a point of negotiation

If Microsoft knew that Skype's agreements exposed them to significant legal liability, which now seems the case, they would have made it a point of negotiation.

Re:Skype mess: How far will this go? by brudgers on Saturday June 25, 2011 @02:00PM (#2696154)
<IANAL>I don't see any meaningful legal liability for Microsoft there. </IANAL>

Microsoft might have some financial exposure which presumably they have covered - and of course it is not in Silverlake's interest to create poison pills because the relatively small profits are unlikely to balance the financial exposure from a potential Microsoft lawsuit. Not to mention that it is almost certainly in Silverlake's interest to get the deal closed, deliver profits to the LP's, and move on to look for new investments.

Re:Skype mess: How far will this go? by shareme on Saturday June 25, 2011 @01:23PM (#2696072)
you forget EBay's exp..was no the same sort of not being forth coming and direct in negotiations than too?