{"id":1064,"date":"2014-02-20T07:46:52","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T07:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citi.hatuasolutions.com\/?p=1064"},"modified":"2014-02-20T07:46:52","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T07:46:52","slug":"facebook-to-buy-messaging-app-whatsapp-for-19bn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/facebook-to-buy-messaging-app-whatsapp-for-19bn\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook to buy messaging app WhatsApp for $19bn"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Facebook's<\/a>
Facebook’s previous biggest acquisition was Instagram, which it bought for $1bn in 2012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Facebook has bought messaging app WhatsApp in a deal worth a total of $19bn (\u00a311.4bn) in cash and shares.<\/p>\n

It is the social networking giant’s biggest acquisition to date.<\/p>\n

WhatsApp has more than 450 million monthly users and is popular with people looking to avoid text messaging charges.<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a>\u00a0announcing the deal, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg described WhatsApp’s services as “incredibly valuable”.<\/p>\n

WhatsApp allows users to send messages over internet connections, avoiding text messaging fees. The company claims it is currently registering one million new users a day.<\/p>\n

It makes money by charging users a subscription fee of $1 per year, although it offers a free model as well.<\/p>\n

Silicon Valley’s newest billionaires<\/strong><\/p>\n

The deal to buy it includes $4bn in cash and approximately $12 billion worth of Facebook shares, plus an additional $3 billion in stock to WhatsApp’s founders and employees at a later date.<\/p>\n

On a conference call to discuss the deal, WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum said he planned to operate the firm “independently and autonomously”. He will also become a member of Facebook’s board of directors.<\/p>\n

“We’re excited and honoured to partner with Mark and Facebook as we continue to bring our product to more people around the world,” Mr Koum said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Mr Zuckerberg said the prospect of a deal was first floated just 11 days ago.<\/p>\n

The Facebook founder said he believed WhatsApp was on track to have a billion users, but insisted he had no plans to place advertising on WhatsApp’s interface, saying he did not think ads were the best way to make money from messaging systems.<\/p>\n

Once the deal is finalised, Mr Koum and co-founder Brian Acton are set to become Silicon Valley’s newest billionaires.<\/p>\n

WhatsApp has around 50 employees in total.<\/p>\n

Siphoning billions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cathy Boyle, a senior analyst at research firm eMarketer, said WhatsApp was valuable to Facebook for several reasons beyond advertising, including its younger user base and its popularity overseas.<\/p>\n

“WhatsApp actually has greater penetration in a lot of international markets than Facebook,” Ms Boyle told the BBC.<\/p>\n

She added that it was notable that Facebook’s chief financial officer David Ebersman referred to the telecommunications industry when discussing the firm’s purchase.<\/p>\n

“WhatsApp is trying to siphon the billions that the telecom industry would make from [traditional SMS text messaging]” she said.<\/p>\n

Shares in Facebook dropped 5% in after hours trading before recovering slightly.<\/p>\n

Prior to this acquisition, Facebook’s biggest buy had been Instagram for $1bn in 2012.<\/p>\n

It had also reportedly offered $3bn to acquire photo messaging service Snapchat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source : BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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