Google rumoured to be negotiating WhatsApp acquisition for ‘close to’ $1bn
It has been suggested that following over a month of negotiations, Google could be set to acquire WhatsApp for nearly $1billion.
According to Digital Trends, messenger app WhatsApp is ‘playing hardball’ in negotiations, with suggestions being made that this buy-out will be the 2013 version of Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram.
There are rumours that both Facebook and Google have been interested in acquiring WhatsApp in the past, although the service denied claims made in December that Facebook was launching a bid.
Last month, it was revealed that WhatsApp could start to charge Apple users a yearly subscription fee, instead of a one-off 69p cost.