According to a development first reported by the Financial Times (FT), Microsoft is shutting down Skype’s London office which the company had inherited when it acquired Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011.

The reported decision by Microsoft to shutter the Skype London office is quite hurtful, all the more so because Skype was founded in London in 2003.

However, the shutdown decision by Microsoft is not surprising, especially since it comes after an earlier announcement by the company to replace the peer-to-peer (P2P) Skype with a client-to-cloud version. That move underscored Microsoft’s plans to re-craft the once-P2P Skype in its own image as a cloud-based enterprise communications app which can pose a substantial competition to Slack.

As per the FT report, imminent shutdown of the Skype London office will apparently result in the lay-off of 400 employees.

In reference to the looming shutdown of Skype’s London office and the resultant job-cuts, Microsoft said in a statement released to FT that it is “deeply committed to doing everything we can to help those impacted through the process” of the office’s closure.