26-03-2014, 09:32 AM
Facebook on buying spree???
http://www.mercurynews.com/60-second-bus...tup-oculus
Biz Break: Facebook buys virtual-reality startup Oculus for $2 billion
By Jeremy C. Owens
jowens@mercurynews.com
POSTED: 03/25/2014 02:51:17 PM PDT# COMMENTS
UPDATED: 03/25/2014 05:09:34 PM PDT
Facebook shocked Silicon Valley with another acquisition Tuesday, agreeing to purchase virtual reality company Oculus VR for $2 billion just a month after committing $16 billion -- and likely more -- to obtain WhatsApp.
The Menlo Park social network announced Tuesday afternoon that it had promised $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook, valued at $1.6 billion based on recent trading averages, to secure the private company known for its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
While the Oculus Rift has been demonstrated mostly as a platform for gaming, Facebook is interested in more, with founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinting in a post on the company's platform that the technology could turn into Facebook's version of Google Glass, the Mountain View company's wearable computer.
"Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home," Zuckerberg wrote Tuesday.
"One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people," he later added.
Oculus will continue to develop the Rift helmet as a gaming device independent of Facebook, Zuckerberg said, but the Irvine company will then begin to focus on new frontiers for virtual reality. Uses Facebook mentioned in Tuesday's announcement included communications, media and education.
"We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways," Oculus co-founder and CEO Brendan Iribe said in Tuesday's news release. "It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it's only just the beginning."
Tuesday's acquisition is another audacious and expensive bet on future technology by Facebook, which announced on Feb. 19 that it would acquire Mountain View mobile-messaging application WhatsApp for $16 billion, which was also broken down into cash and stock. Like that deal -- which included $3 billion more in possible stock rewards for employees moving from WhatsApp to Facebook -- Oculus's agreement includes possible future benefits, which could reach an additional $300 million.
Post by Mark Zuckerberg.
WhatsApp brought with it a large, global user base, while Oculus has yet to commercially release an actual product, shipping a version of the headset for developers last year and currently offering a new developers kit for pre-order. Still, the company has stoked excitement in the gaming and tech communities with its demonstrations at various conferences and other gatherings, winning a 2013 Crunchie award for best hardware startup. The company announced in June 2013 that it had raised $16 million in a venture-capital round led by Spark Capital and Palo Alto-based Matrix Partners.
Facebook stock gained 1.2 percent to $64.89 in regular trading Tuesday, appreciably less than the $69.35 price Facebook used in calculating the total value of the stock transferred in the Oculus acquisition. Shares declined about 1 percent in after-hours trading following Tuesday's announcement.
http://www.mercurynews.com/60-second-bus...tup-oculus
Biz Break: Facebook buys virtual-reality startup Oculus for $2 billion
By Jeremy C. Owens
jowens@mercurynews.com
POSTED: 03/25/2014 02:51:17 PM PDT# COMMENTS
UPDATED: 03/25/2014 05:09:34 PM PDT
Facebook shocked Silicon Valley with another acquisition Tuesday, agreeing to purchase virtual reality company Oculus VR for $2 billion just a month after committing $16 billion -- and likely more -- to obtain WhatsApp.
The Menlo Park social network announced Tuesday afternoon that it had promised $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook, valued at $1.6 billion based on recent trading averages, to secure the private company known for its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
While the Oculus Rift has been demonstrated mostly as a platform for gaming, Facebook is interested in more, with founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinting in a post on the company's platform that the technology could turn into Facebook's version of Google Glass, the Mountain View company's wearable computer.
"Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home," Zuckerberg wrote Tuesday.
"One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people," he later added.
Oculus will continue to develop the Rift helmet as a gaming device independent of Facebook, Zuckerberg said, but the Irvine company will then begin to focus on new frontiers for virtual reality. Uses Facebook mentioned in Tuesday's announcement included communications, media and education.
"We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways," Oculus co-founder and CEO Brendan Iribe said in Tuesday's news release. "It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it's only just the beginning."
Tuesday's acquisition is another audacious and expensive bet on future technology by Facebook, which announced on Feb. 19 that it would acquire Mountain View mobile-messaging application WhatsApp for $16 billion, which was also broken down into cash and stock. Like that deal -- which included $3 billion more in possible stock rewards for employees moving from WhatsApp to Facebook -- Oculus's agreement includes possible future benefits, which could reach an additional $300 million.
Post by Mark Zuckerberg.
WhatsApp brought with it a large, global user base, while Oculus has yet to commercially release an actual product, shipping a version of the headset for developers last year and currently offering a new developers kit for pre-order. Still, the company has stoked excitement in the gaming and tech communities with its demonstrations at various conferences and other gatherings, winning a 2013 Crunchie award for best hardware startup. The company announced in June 2013 that it had raised $16 million in a venture-capital round led by Spark Capital and Palo Alto-based Matrix Partners.
Facebook stock gained 1.2 percent to $64.89 in regular trading Tuesday, appreciably less than the $69.35 price Facebook used in calculating the total value of the stock transferred in the Oculus acquisition. Shares declined about 1 percent in after-hours trading following Tuesday's announcement.