Facebook to Acquire Virtual-Reality Oculus for $2 Billion

Facebook Inc. said it will buy virtual-reality technology company Oculus VR Inc. for about $2 billion, in its first push into mobile hardware.

The deal includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million Facebook shares, as well as an additional $300 million if the acquisition achieves certain milestones, the Menlo Park, California-based company said in a statement today. Oculus, based in Irvine, California, makes a ski-goggles-like device that people wear to play games and access other immersive virtual-reality experiences.

Facebook is building its mobile business with acquisitions as the more than 1.2 billion members of the world’s largest social network increasingly use the service through smartphones and tablets. The company purchased mobile photo-sharing application Instagram in 2012 for about $700 million and last month agreed to buy mobile messaging app WhatsApp Inc. for about $19 billion.

via Facebook Agrees to Acquire Device Maker Oculus for $2 Billion – Bloomberg.