Wednesday, February 19 2014 – 6:00 PM EST: Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) – Facebook has just announced it is buying messaging app WhatsApp for $16 billion- $4 billion in cash, and $12 billion in Facebook stock. The agreement provides for an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units (RSUs) to be granted to WhatsApp’s founders and employees that will vest over four years subsequent to closing, bringing the total acquisition price to $19 billion. The deal comes on the heels of the news of Rakuten Inc’s acquisition of Viber, a WhatApp competitor, for $900 million on February 14. Using our industry categorization and screening platform, PICS, PrivCo has identified a number of competitors in the space, including majors like Kakao Corporation and Kik Interactive.
WhatApp has built a leading cross-platform mobile messaging service, featuring:
- Over 450 million monthly active users (MAUs)
- 350 million daily active users (DAUs)
- Messaging volume closing in on the entire global telecom SMS volume
- 1 million new user registrations each day.
Facebook‘s hopes for the acquisition:
- Bring more connectivity to the world by delivering core internet services affordable and efficiently
Synergies may lead to accelerated growth and increased user engagement across both companies
- WhatsApp will continue to operate as a standalone entity
- The Class A common stock and RSUs issued to WhatsApp shareholders and employees will represent 7.9% of Facebook Shares based on current shares and RSUs outstanding
By Private Company Financials News Published: February 19, 2014
