‘Facebook to Buy WhatsApp for $16 Billion’ – ‘Mashable’

Seth Fiegerman says, “Facebook has entered into an agreement to acquire WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, for $16 billion in cash and stock, according to a filing Wednesday.

The deal is by far Facebook’s largest acquisition to date and comes after rumors in late 2012 and early 2013 that Facebook and Google were vying to buy the messaging service.

According to the filing, Facebook has agreed to pay $12 billion in stock and $4 billion in cash for the company. Facebook has also agreed to pay an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units to WhatsApp’s founders and employees as part of the deal, which would bring the total deal price to about $19 billion“.