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Microsoft takes stake in Facebook

25.10.07 | Philip Jones

Microsoft last night thwarted its arch rival Google to clinch a $240m (£117m) deal for a key 1.6% stake in Facebook that values the hugely popular social networking website at a hefty $15bn, reports the Times.

Microsoft saw off intense competition from Google for the strategic stake, in return for which the software titan will become the exclusive third-party seller of overseas advertising outside the United States on Facebook’s site, which has now amassed more than 49 million internet users.

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• Philip Jones