Facebook has
agreed to buy the mobile messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion.
Facebook
will pay $4 billion in cash and $12 billion in Facebook shares, and WhatsApp's
founders and employees will also receive $3 billion in options on Facebook
shares after closing the deal. This will give WhatsApp shareholders and staff
in total 7.9 per cent of Facebook's outstanding shares.
Facebook
will keep the WhatsApp brand and the company's founder Jan Koum will join
Facebook's board of directors.
Similar to
Instagram, WhatsApp will be allowed to operate independently within Facebook,
maintaining its headquarters in Mountain View, California. Facebook will also
continue to offer its own Messenger app, which will continue as a standalone
application.
WhatsApp is one of the most
successful of the multiple IP messaging apps growing in popularity with mobile
users. The company counts over 450 million active users each month and is
adding 1 million registered users each day. Facebook chief executive Mark
Zuckerberg said WhatsApp is on a path to connect one billion people, and any
service that does that is 'incredibly valuable'.
No comments:
Post a Comment