Microsoft has agreed to invest $240 million (£117 million) in social networking website Facebook, placing a $15 billion value on it.
The investment, which was accompanied by the signing of a key advertising deal, gives Microsoft a 1.6% stake in the online social utility.
The companies already had a US-only strategic alliance that named Microsoft the exclusive provider of standard banner advertising on Facebook using Microsoft’s digital advertising solutions and the Microsoft adCenter platform, lasting until 2011.
The new deal makes Microsoft the site’s exclusive third-party advertising platform partner and it will begin to sell advertising for Facebook internationally.
With an average of 200,000 new users registering each day, Facebook is one of the most-trafficked sites on the internet.
Owen Van Natta, chief revenue officer, Facebook, said: “We are pleased to take our Microsoft partnership to the next level. This relationship will allow Facebook to continue to innovate and grow as a technology company, as well as bring relevant advertising to Facebook’s nearly 50 million active users.”
Kevin Johnson, president of the Platforms & Services Division at Microsoft, said: “Making this investment and expanding this partnership will position Microsoft and Facebook to better take advantage of advertising opportunities around the world, and is a great win for not only for our two companies, but also our collective users and advertisers.
“We have partnered well over the past year and look forward to doing some exciting things together in the future. The opportunity to further collaborate as advertising partners is a big reason we have decided to take an equity stake, and is a strong statement of our confidence in the long-term economics of this partnership.”
Related Links
