FACEBOOK HAS FINALLY closed its deal for the instant messaging service WhatsApp, a few days after the European Commission approved the deal.
The deal, which was originally announced in February, was confirmed in a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition to it now being a subsidiary of Facebook, it means that WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum is now a member of Facebook’s Board of Directors.
He will remain chief executive of WhatsApp, and will receive $1 in an annual salary, similar to Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and restricted stock units worth nearly $2 billion.
Last Friday, the European Commission authorised Facebook’s deal with WhatsApp, and found that it and Facebook Messenger were not close competitors. It said that consumers would continue to have a wide choice of alternative consumer communications apps after the deal was completed.
It also found that the two apps had enough differences to separate them. For example, WhatsApp uses phone numbers while Facebook Messenger requires you to set up a profile before using it.
The app has more than 600 million active users worldwide and Facebook has said it will run WhatsApp as a separate entity.
According to Re/Code, the deal is now worth $21.8 billion, mainly because the value of Facebook stock has increased.
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