BREAKING: Facebook (FB) Agrees To $16 Billion Deal To Buy WhatsApp

After years of rumors about Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) buying the mobile messaging company WhatsApp, Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) announced on Wednesday that it will snap up the company for $16 billion in cash and stocks.

According to a document filed with the SEC on Wednesday, the deal will be financed with a cash payment of $4 billion and $12 billion in Facebook shares.

The deal includes an additional $3 billion in restricted stock for WhatsApp founder Jan Koum, who will join the Facebook board, and his staff.

Both brands will remain exclusive from each other, according to the SEC filing, but according to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg: "WhatsApp will complement our existing chat and messaging services to provide new tools for our community."

Koum said in a blog post that the purchase will allow WhatsApp to grow to its full potential.

WhatsApp has more than 450 million users a day with 70 percent of those users using the application on a daily basis. The WhatsApp team will remain in Mountain View, Calif.