Facebook to acquire WhatsApp for USD 19 billion in cash and stock deal

Social media giant Facebook will acquire mobile messaging company
WhatsApp for 19 billion dollars in a cash and stock deal, the largest
acquisition by the Mark Zuckerberg-led firm so far that will give it a
stronghold in the market for messaging.

The whopping acquisition price includes USD 4 billion in cash, about
USD 12 billion worth of Facebook shares and USD 3 billion in
restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp's founders and
employees that will vest over four years following the closing of the
deal.

Under the agreement, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum will join
Facebook Board of Directors. Facebook said the acquisition will not
impact the WhatsApp's brand, which will be maintained and the
company's headquarters will remain in California's Mountain View.

WhatsApp's core messaging product and Facebook's existing messenger
app will continue to operate as standalone applications.

"WhatsApp is on a path to connect one billion people. The services
that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable," Zuckerberg
said. "I've known Jan for a long time and I'm excited to partner with
him and his team to make the world more open and connected."

WhatsApp, which will continue to operate independently, has built a
leading and rapidly growing real- time mobile messaging service with
over 450 million people using the service each month. Of this number,
70 per cent users are active on a given day.

The messaging volume of WhatsApp is approaching the entire global
telecom SMS volume and the company is currently adding more than one
million new registered users per day.
"WhatsApp's extremely high user engagement and rapid growth are driven
by the simple, powerful and instantaneous messaging capabilities we
provide.
We're excited and honored to partner with Mark and Facebook as we
continue to bring our product to more people around the world," Koum
added.