“Facebook” to acquire “WhatsApp”

Facebook has entered into an agreement to acquire WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, for $16 billion in cash and stock, according to a filing Wednesday.

•  In a press release announcing the monumental buyout, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable.” He also shared news of the deal on his personal Facebook page,saying,

Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO)

• “WhatsApp will complement our existing chat and messaging services to provide new tools for our community.” Over 450 million people use WhatsApp each month, according to statistics in the press release, with 70 percent of those users active on a given day. WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum will join Facebook’s board of directors as part of the deal, but his team will remain stationed in Mountain View, California.
  

• “Doing this will give WhatsApp the flexibility to grow and expand, while giving me, Brian, and the rest of our team more time to focus on building a communications service that’s as fast, affordable and personal as possible,”he said in a blog post. According to Kuam, users don’t need to worry about ads “interrupting your communication.” “There would have been no partnership between our two companies if we had to compromise on the core principles that will always define our company, our vision and our product,” he said.
  

 

• WhatsApp had every option in the world, so I’m thrilled that they chose to work with us. I’m looking forward to what Facebook and WhatsApp can do together, and to developing great new mobile services that give people even more options for connecting.
  

About WhatsApp

• WhatsApp, founded in 2009 by former Yahoo engineers Jan Koum and Brian Acton.
  
• The app served as an alternative to SMS by letting users send messages for free across smartphone platforms.
  
• It currently has more than 450 million people who use the app every day.
  
• Jan Koum, WhatsApp’s cofounder and CEO.
  

Zuckerberg and Koum nailed down the deal last weekend. As part of the acquisition, Koum will join Facebook’s board of directors.

WhatsApp will continue to operate independently, which Zuckerberg compared to the way it handled the acquisition of Instagram.

The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies and is subject to regulatory approval. Facebook expects the deal to close later this year.