Something tells me that Facebook wants a stake in the instant messaging market… It was announced today that Facebook is buying WhatsApp today in a blockbuster deal that is going include up to $12 billion in Facebook stock and $4 billion in cash going to WhatsApp, with an additional $3 billion in stock to be given to the messaging giant once the deal is finalized.
That’s an absolutely massive amount of money considering that one of Facebook’s other major acquisitions, Instagram, by comparison, saw only $1 billion change hands, but perhaps unsurprising considering how popular WhatsApp’s mobile app is around the world. Much like the Instagram acquisition though, Facebook isn’t looking to absorb WhatsApp into Facebook itself, instead leaving it as is as a separate service.
Key stats of WhatsApp that Facebook will be acquiring include:
- Over 450 million people using the service each month;
- 70% of those people active on a given day;
- Messaging volume approaching the entire global telecom SMS volume; and
- Continued strong growth, currently adding more than 1 million new registered users per day.
With Facebook slowly moving its tendrils into all communication markets, we can only wonder what they are eying next to acquire. What do you think about Facebook buying WhatsApp?
Source: Facebook via Android Police
