Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which is investing $300 million for a 15 percent stake in EBay Inc.’s Skype Internet phone unit, expects to be “active” over the next 12 months making private-equity investments.

Buying a stake in Skype is “a wonderful opportunity to own a blue-chip business that’s providing disruptive technology,” Mark Wiseman, senior vice president for private investments at the Toronto-based pension fund, said today in an interview. “This is going to be an active 12 months for CPPIB in this sector and others.”

Canada Pension has invested more than $4 billion in private companies since 2005 and had a portfolio worth about $3 billion as of June 30, Wiseman said. The pension fund manager, Canada’s second largest, also holds stakes in Avaya Inc., which makes gear for corporate phone networks, music publisher EMI Group Ltd, and drug-store chain Alliance Boots Ltd.

Canada Pension joined a group led by the Silver Lake private-equity firm that agreed to buy 65 percent of Skype for about $2 billion. EBay will retain 35 percent.

The fund, which manages pensions for Canadians outside Quebec, had C$105 billion ($95 billion) in assets as of June 30.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto at hugomiller@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 1, 2009 16:36 EDT