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Facebook has bought messaging service Whatsapp for $16 billion. Source: ThinkStock

FACEBOOK said Wednesday it was buying the fast-growing messaging service WhatsApp for more than $16 billion in cash and stock, expanding the global footprint of the social networking giant.

Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. We do this by building services that help people share any type of content with any group of people they want. WhatsApp will help us do this by continuing to develop a service that people around the world love, Facebook said in a post.

WhatsApp has over 450 million users each month with 70 per cent active on any given day. They have also had strong growth, with 1 million new registered users each day.

WhatsApp has more than a million people signing up each day. Source: Supplied

WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable, said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO.

The deal includes $4 billion in cash and approximately $12 billion worth of Facebook shares. It also provides for an extra $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApps founders and staff that will vest over four years.

Even if the deal doesnt go through, WhatsApp will still be well off. The agreement provides WhatsApp a fee of $1 billion in cash and $1 billion in shares.

Jan Koum, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO, said, WhatsApps extremely high user engagement and rapid growth are driven by the simple, powerful and instantaneous messaging capabilities we provide. Were excited and honoured to partner with Mark and Facebook as we continue to bring our product to more people around the world.

The deal is Facebooks biggest acquisition and comes less than two years after Mark Zuckerbergs firm raised $US16 billion in the richest tech sector public stock offering.

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