Facebook Has Acquied WhatsApp for $16 billion

It has been announced that Facebook has acquired messaging app WhatsApp for $16bn (£9.6bn). The deal will also see an additional $3bn given to WhatsApp's founders and employees.

This is facebook's biggest acquisition to date.

In a statement, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg described WhatsApp's services as "incredibly valuable".

WhatsApp founder Jan Koum says he plans to operate the firm "independently and autonomously". The deal will see the founder also become a member of Facebook's board of directors.