According to a late Monday New York Times report, citing unnamed sources 'in the know,' the online auction biggie eBay will Tuesday announce its deal with a group of private investors, pertaining to the sale of its Internet calling unit, Skype.

The sources revealed that the group of investors includes Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen's venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz; the London-based venture capital firm and an early Skype investor, Index Ventures; and the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.

Though there was no disclosure with regard to the financial terms of the deal, it has been reported that eBay is seeking nearly $2 billion for Skype, which is in line with accommodating over $600 million in revenue this year.

It was in 2005 that eBay had struck a $2.6 billion deal for the acquisition of Skype, essentially with the aim of offering the eBay customers to discuss their transactions in real-time. However, Skype did not provide the synergies that eBay had expected; and, as such, in April this year, eBay had announced its plans to spin off Skype, with an IPO in the first half of next year.

Although Skype founders, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, were reportedly interested in buying back Skype, with support from some private equity firms, it is not clear whether they are involved in the new deal.