SAN FRANCISCO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Facebook announced on Monday that it will acquire popular photo-sharing app maker Instagram for about 1 billion U.S. dollars.
According to the company's press release, the acquisition is " approximately 1 billion dollars in a combination of cash and shares of Facebook," and is expected to close later this quarter.
Facebook Chief Executive Officer and founder Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in a Facebook blog post which has had more than 80,000 "likes."
In the blog, Zuckerberg noted Instagram will remain independent while working closely with Facebook to offer best sharing experience for users. "We need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram' s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook. That's why we're committed to building and growing Instagram independently," said Zuckerberg in the blog. "This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan do any more of these, if any at all," he noted
With only nine employees, the San Francisco-based Instagram has 27 million registered users on Apple's iOS devices alone. Last week, it launched the Android version, racking up more than 1 million users within 24 hours.
Last week, it was reported that Instagram has been valued at 500 million dollars by investors. Both Google and Facebook have been reportedly reaching the start-up several times for last 18 months.
Facebook is expected hold an initial public offering next month which could value the company at 100 billion dollars.
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