Facebook to buy Instagram for $1 billion

New York -- Facebook will purchase the photo-sharing application Instagram for about $1 billion in cash and stock, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Monday. The deal, which is the social-networking company’s largest acquisition to date, is expected to close later this quarter.



Instagram was named iPhone app of the year in 2011.



Facebook will acquire Instagram's entire team as part of the deal.



“This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users,” Zuckerberg said in a blog post. “We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all.”