SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook will pay US$1bil in cash and stock for Instagram, a two-year-old photo-sharing application developer, in its largest-ever acquisition just months before the No. 1 social media website is expected to go public.
The price was stunning for an apps-maker without any significant revenue, even when measured by the lofty standards of Silicon Valley, where startup valuations have soared in recent years. It highlights the rising stakes in the social networking market in which services such as Facebook need to constantly excite consumers with new features and mobile applications.
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