EBay's sale of Skype to an investment group for $1.9 billion is set to close within a month as a deal to settle a bitter legal battle over the future of the internet telephony company neared completion.

Skype's original founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis are likely to take a stake in the company again in return for dropping various lawsuits against eBay.

But Index Ventures and its partner Mike Volpi are likely to withdraw from the investment group which will take a majority stake in Skype.

Mr Volpi and Index has been accused in a Delaware federal court lawsuit, brought by Mr Zennstrom and Mr Friis, of using confidential information in their bid to acquire a 65 per cent stake in Skype. Mr Volpi previously worked for the Skype founders as the chief executive of Joost, an internet video company. He joined Index in July.

Mr Zennstrom and Mr Friis earlier this year tried to buy back Skype, which they sold to eBay in 2005 for more than $3 billion, but eBay instead agreed to sell to a consortium that includes Index, private equity firm Silver Lake, Netscape founder Marc Andreessen's Andreessen Horowitz and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.

Final talks were under way this week to conclude a deal under which Index and Mr Volpi would drop out of the investment group and Mr Zennstrom and Mr Friis would get a stake and at least one seat on the company's board, The Times understands. An announcement could take place by the end of the week.

Earlier this year eBay admitted that Skype was a bad fit for its online auction business and put the unit up for sale. Skype, which has its headquarters in Luxembourg, bypasses the standard telephone network by channelling voice and video calls over the internet. It allows users to call other Skype users free and provides the ability to connect with landlines or mobile devices at low rates. Skype has 481 million registered users and eBay has said that Skype is expected to make more than $1 billion in 2011.

Under the proposed agreement, Mr Zennstrom and Mr Friis will end a separate intellectual-property dispute with eBay due to be heard next year in a London court. EBay failed to buy the core technology for Skype when it purchased the company, licensing it from Joltid, the founders’ company, instead. eBay said in a regulatory filing that the dispute over its use could see the phone service close. That threat is now set to disappear.

Mr Zennstrom and Mr Friis also sued eBay and the consortium of buyers on the grounds of violating the Joltid copyright, this time in a District Court in Northern California. They asserted that damages could accrue at $75 million a day. That legal action would also end under the terms of the deal being discussed.

A spokesman for Mr Zennstrom and Mr Friis declined to comment. eBay also declined to comment.

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