Facebook has finally closed on its purchase of the mobile app, WhatsApp. WhatsApp is a popular application used especially in Europe that allows users to communicate primarily via text message with any internet connection. The purchase by Facebook was made for close to 22 billion dollars. This amount was up from the original purchase price of $19 billion dollars. The original stock and cash deal was made earlier in the year 2014. This was in large part due to the raised price of shares on Facebook, also earlier this year.
Jan Koum is the current CEO and co-founder of WhatsApp, and Facebook kept Koum on the board. Facebook has purchased many different social sites and companies over the years, but WhatsApp is by far the largest and most expensive. When the buyout was originally announced to the public back in February of this year, many eyebrows were raised at the amount that Facebook was willing to pay. But all in all, most experts in the tech world knew that the buyout was essential to the longevity of Facebook.
WhatsApp has been growing in popularity for several years. It was originally most popular in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, but it has since been spreading to different developing countries around the world like Mexico, India, Brazil and Russia. WhatsApp owners said back in September of 2014 that they had more than 500 million registered users, and most of those are currently active with the app.
It’s possible to chat with just one person or groups on WhatsApp. Users are also able to send voice recordings, photos and videos in addition to text messages. It is free for users to use WhatsApp for one year, and after that users are individually required to pay the small fee of $1 per year every year after the initial year. Facebook will keep WhatsApp separate from its own messaging service.