Skype has announced that it’s acquired “GroupMe,” a group text messaging service. Financial details are still relatively unknown at this point, but AllThingsD says Skype purchased the company for around $85 million late Sunday afternoon.
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GroupMe, which lets you text with multiple people at the same time, is currently only a year old. Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci founded the company, which is based in New York, in April 2010.
The service basically lets you set up private group chats through text messages, and allows you to set up free conference calls. It’s a handy tool for setting up social functions and simultaneously annoying you with equal efficacy, depending on which way you see it.
Skype CEO Tony Bates says he was talking to GroupMe right around the same time that Skype was in negotiations with Microsoft. Microsoft decided to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion a few months ago; that transaction is still processing.
MORE: Microsoft Makes Skype Purchase Official: What You Should Know
[via TechCrunch]
Erica Ho is a reporter at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @ericamho and Google+. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.