Facebook grabbed $1.5 billion in funding from Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies.
The investment values the leading social networking site at $50 billion, which is more than the market values of Yahoo! and eBay, but less than Amazon and Google.
The Goldman funding round was originally supposed to include U.S. investors, but the investment bank withdrew it offering after the plan came under regulatory scrutiny.
Facebook said in a statement that there are no immediate plans on what to do with the money raised.
Facebook is expecting to pass 500 shareholders in 2011, and it is highly expected that the company will schedule an initial public offering by April 30, 2012.
Zygna, the leading social gaming company, said this morning in its blog that Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies (DST) is along with other investors has agreed to purchase $180 million of the company’s securities.
The Russian firm has already invested $200 million in Facebook earlier this year.
DST comprises the majority of the new investment, followed by Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global as new investors in Zynga, and Institutional Ventures Partners, a current investor who has added to its position in the company.
“Social games are enabling millions of people around the world to connect and play together everyday. We are excited about our relationship with DST as they are a global player dedicated to creating services that are meaningful to consumers in the long term,” said Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga. “The investment from DST allows us to continue delivering on the promise of social games for consumers, making fun the biggest way for people to interact.”
For Zynga, which has 712 full and part-time employees, the investment gives it extra capital with which to compete with newly enriched rivals.
As for the Facebook users, us, we can expect better games and service from the Zynga, who has already showered us with highly addictive games like Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars, FarmVille, Cafe World, YoVille, FishVille and the latest game Petville.
[Source: Zynga blog, New York Times ]
