Index’s Volpi is accused of using confidential information to purchase Skype

Wednesday, US federal court got a request from Skype’s founders, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, to prevent Index Ventures and one of its partners from further participating in the proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of the Web phone service.

 Zennstrom and Friis, Joltid and Joost owners claimed Index and one of its partners, Michelangelo Volpi, were using confidential information in their bid to acquire a majority stake in Skype from eBay.

 The pair of entrepreneurs has tried to buy back Skype and had contacted several private equity firms. Instead, eBay agreed to sell a 65% stake in Skype to a consortium that includes Index, private equity firm Silver Lake, Netscape founder Marc Andreessen's Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan investment Board.

 Index's Volpi was a key architect of the deal. Volpi had served on Skype's board before Zennstrom and Friis recruited him to head Joost. Volpi stepped down as CEO in late June. He initially stayed on as chairman, but was later removed as Joost began investigating actions taken during his tenure.

 The latest complaint, in seeking the injunction, said Volpi used what he learned about Joost and Joltid's software, also used by Skype, to broker the deal.

 The plaintiffs said Volpi failed in breaking his fiduciary duties by beginning negotiations for the Skype deal on behalf of Index while he was still CEO of Joost.

 The documents also included an affidavit from Joost's chief architect, Justin Erenkrantz, in which he is saying Volpi, while still at Joost, had told him he was orchestrating a bid to purchase Skype and that he had a unique advantage over a competing bid by Friis and Zennstrom. Volpi had also offered him a job at Skype, Erenkrantz said.