The rumors are confirmed: Skype's president, Josh Silverman, moments ago put out an announcement saying that the Internet telephony company, owned by eBay, is being sold.

The investors, including a co-founder of Netscape, will get a 65 percent stake in Skype, while eBay will hold on to the rest.

Below is the full text from Silverman's announcement:

Today, Skype begins a new chapter. We’re spinning off from eBay to become an independent company once again.

This is very exciting news for all of us here at Skype, and I want to give all of you a brief overview of what’s happening.

A small group of venture capital funds have agreed with eBay to acquire a majority stake in Skype.

The group is led by Silver Lake Partners, joined by Index and Andreessen Horowitz Ventures. You may recognize some names – for example Danny Rimer and Mike Volpi (both at Index Ventures) who were some of the earliest Board members and supporters of Skype.

The new investors will buy approximately 65% of Skype, with eBay continuing to own 35%, in a deal valuing Skype at $2.75 billion US. It means we’re back to being a fully independent company again, but with a new group of owners who believe passionately in our mission and in the ability of our team to deliver on it. I can’t wait.

TechCrunch and the New York Times have been covering the deal closely over the past week.