Boston, MA 03/04/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is being reported to be in negotiations to acquire Titan Aerospace which manufactures near orbital solar powered drones which have the ability to fly up to 5 years without needing to land. Facebook is currently planning to bring affordable internet access to over 5 billion people in the world an effort that could heavily benefit from this acquisition.
Sources close to inside information claim the deal could be worth $60 million which is slightly lower compared to the astonishing $19 billion that the company spent on WhatsApp. This clearly shows the massive cash balance that Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) has on its hands able to cater for any acquisition that would benefit it in the near future.
Uses of the Drones
The drones can potentially be used as orbital satellites that Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) can easily fly to blanket parts of the world that do not have any internet access. Africa will be the most targeted part of the world if this deal goes through as it has shown to have growth potential in terms of returns. It is being reported that Titan Aerospace will start by building a total of 11,000 unmanned aerial vehicles especially the “Solara 60” model that can be propelled to this parts of the world
The drones can also be used for other purposes such as monitoring the weather in inaccessible parts as well as disaster discovery. This presents a cheaper option for Facebook to take internet access to remote areas where infrastructure is poor as compared to using orbital satellites.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) in other news is facing a major concern with its users especially on the acquisition of WhatsApp. Facebook has been grappling with numerous concerns related to the privacy of its network which many people fear could trickle down to WhatsApp. Many people had opted to switch to WhatsApp due to its privacy feature.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) went down by 1.53% on Monday trading session to close the day at $67.41
