Facebook have just announced that they are in the final stages of buying cross platform messaging app WhatsApp. The deal is being cut for $12B in Facebook shares, $4B in cash and an additional $3B in RSUs for employee retention. Mark Zuckerberg announced the acquisition on his personal Facebook page:
I’m excited to announce that we’ve agreed to acquire WhatsApp and that their entire team will be joining us at Facebook.
Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. We do this by building services that help people share any type of content with any group of people they want. WhatsApp will help us do this by continuing to develop a service that people around the world love to use every day.
Facebook have said that they will aim to keep the app independent but only time will tell. What do you think about the acquisition?