Google is reportedly in talks to acquire WhatsApp in a deal that could be worth as much as $1 billion.
The popular messaging app has been on Google’s radar for quite some time now, says an “inside source.”
The only major hangup is the negotiation of a final selling price.
“By all regards,” says Francis Bea of Digital Trends, “the acquisition is a no-brainer.”
Apps like LINE, WeChat, Nimbuzz, Tango, KakaoTalk, and of course WhatsApp, are making a splash on mobile (and as social apps) in record time. LINE has gone from zero to 130 million users in just under two years. Even new entrant MessageMe has rocketed from zero to one million users in just 12 days.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard rumors that WhatsApp is considering a buyout.
In 2012, chatter surfaced on more than one occasion that the platform was ripe for acquisition by Facebook and, yes, even Google.
With Facebook seemingly out of the picture in these latest negotiations, it appears that Google is the only big player willing to put up the kind of cash WhatsApp expects.
