Facebook deal for Whatsapp soars beyond $21bn mark
Facebook has seen the price of purchasing Whatsapp rise beyond initial estimates, as the company founded by Mark Zuckenberg is now paying $21.8bn.
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$441.38
13:10 25/04/24
The sum exceeds the $19bn figure stated when the deal was announced and it is due to Facebook’s share price rising over 13% since mid-February, while Whatsapp’s user-base has continued to expand, rising from 450m in February to over 600m in August.
The deal, which was closed on Monday, is made up of 177.8m Class A shares, worth $13.7bn, and an additional $3.5bn worth of restricted stock units awarded to Whatsapp employees, while the remaining $4.59bn was paid in cash.
“We are looking forward to connecting even more people around the world, and continuing to create value for the people who use WhatsApp,” Facebook said in a statement.
The deal also sees Jan Koum, Whatsapp’s co-founder and chief executive, join Facebook’s board after receiving $1.9bn worth of restricted stock units.
Facebook and Whatsapp were “not close competitors”, the European Commission ruled on 3 October, adding that “most people use more than one communications app”.
Other chat apps have been eyeing up potential deals, with Snapchat and Yahoo in advanced talks over an investment that would value the former at about $10bn, while in February Viber was purchased for $900m by Japanese group Rakuten.
Facebook shares were up 0.32% to $77.71 at 18:15 on Monday.