Facebook-WhatsApp deal one of biggest ever in tech

Facebook-WhatsApp deal one of biggest ever in tech
Updated today at 08:41 AM
NEW YORK (AFP) - Facebook's purchase of messaging service WhatsApp for up to US$19 billion (S$23.9 billion) in cash and stock is one of the largest acquisitions ever in the technology sector.

Here are some other notable deals involving US tech companies, in order of dollar amount from largest to smallest:

HEWLETT-PACKARD BUYS COMPAQ - SEPTEMBER 2001 US technology giant Hewlett-Packard buys Compaq Computer for US$25 billion in a bid to compete with IBM.

GOOGLE BUYS MOTOROLA MOBILITY - AUGUST 2011 Internet search giant Google buys the handset business of Motorola for US$12.5 billion in a bid to challenge Apple in the smartphone market. Less than three years later, Google sold Motorola to China's Lenovo for US$2.91 billion.

HEWLETT-PACKARD BUYS AUTONOMY - AUGUST 2011 US technology giant Hewlett-Packard buys British enterprise software company Autonomy for US$10.24 billion. US authorities later open an investigation amid HP accusations that Autonomy had engaged in "accounting improprieties."

MICROSOFT BUYS SKYPE - MAY 2011 Microsoft buys Internet voice and video leader Skype for US$8.5 billion, the largest acquisition ever by the US software giant.

ORACLE BUYS SUN - APRIL 2009 US business software giant Oracle buys struggling Sun Microsystems and its Java programming language for US$7.4 billion.

MICROSOFT BUYS NOKIA - SEPTEMBER 2013 Microsoft buys the handset business of former market leader Nokia for US$7.2 billion in an effort to catch up to rivals Apple and Google in the smartphone market.

GOOGLE BUYS YOUTUBE - OCTOBER 2006 Internet search giant Google buys online video platform YouTube in October 2006 from its founders, Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, for US$1.65 billion.

EBAY BUYS PAYPAL - JUNE 2002 Online auction house eBay buys online payments firm PayPal for US$1.5 billion.

YAHOO BUYS TUMBLR - MAY 2013 Former Google executive Marissa Mayer makes her biggest purchase since taking over as CEO of Yahoo, buying the popular blogging platform Tumblr for US$1.1 billion.

FACEBOOK BUYS INSTAGRAM - APRIL 2012 Facebook offers US$1 billion for hot smartphone photo-sharing service Instagram. The purchase of Instagram was Facebook's largest until the WhatsApp deal.