Social
media giant Facebook Inc acquired WhatsApp for 19 billion dollars in a cash and
stock deal on 19 February 2014.
Whatsapp is a mobile messaging company.
Under the Agreement
WhatsApp co-founder and CEO
Jan Koum will join Facebook Board of Directors. Also, 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. The acquisition price included 4 billion
dollars in cash, about 12 billion dollars worth of Facebook shares and 3 billion
dollars in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp’s founders and
employees. The deal would give WhatsApp the flexibility to grow and expand and
noted that users of the service will not experience any change in usage.
About WhatsApp
WhatsApp
Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange
messages without having to pay for SMS.
Jan
Koum co-founded WhatsApp with Brian Acton in 2009, both former Yahoo
executives.
