4:00 AM -- eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) will today announce the sale of Skype to a consortium of private equity firms, according to this New York Times report.

Rumors have long been circulating of a potential sale, though more recently eBay outlined plans for an IPO of its VoIP services business. (See eBay Pledges Skype IPO.)

The New York Times suggests eBay has been seeking $2 billion for Skype, some ways short of the price it paid back in 2005. (See EBay Buys Skype for $2.6B.)

Skype generated revenues of $170 million during the second quarter of this year, when it had 480.5 million registered users.

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading