Facebook buying WhatsApp

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Posted February 19, 2014 3:01 pm.

This article is more than 5 years old.

NEW YORK (NEWS1130) – Facebook is buying mobile messaging service WhatsApp for up to $19 billion (US) in cash and stock, by far the company’s largest acquisition.

The world’s biggest social networking company says it’s paying $12 billion in Facebook stock and $4 billion in cash for WhatsApp.

In addition, the app’s founders and employees will be granted $3 billion in restricted stock that will vest over four years after the deal closes.

Facebook says it’s keeping WhatsApp as a separate service, just as it did with Instagram, which it bought for about $715 million.

WhatsApp has more than 450 million monthly active users. In comparison, Twitter had 241 million users at the end of last year.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says WhatsApp is on path to reach a billion users.

Post by Mark Zuckerberg.

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