Microsoft Corp outbids Google Inc. for stake in Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg certainly has a reason to smile. In fact, he has 240 million reasons to smile.

Canada.com reports:

Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it would pay $240 million US for a 1.6 per cent minority equity stake in Facebook in a deal that values the popular social networking Web site at $15 billion US.

The world's largest software maker was bidding against Web search leader Google Inc. for a stake in Facebook and the right to sell advertising for Facebook outside of the United States.

Microsoft said it would be the exclusive third-party advertising platform for Facebook which has more than 49 million Internet users.

Google and Microsoft, now rivals for Internet-based audiences and applications, each expressed interest in a minority stake in Facebook for its growing user base and advertising potential.

The rivals have butted head before for Internet properties. Google beat Microsoft with a $1.65 billion US acquisition of online video sharing site YouTube last year.

- Annie Noa Kenet, Toronto

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