Facebook buys Israeli startup Onavo

Facebook will acquire an Israeli start-up called Onavo, the Tel Aviv-based firm said Monday, in a deal reportedly worth up to $200 million.

“Facebook has agreed to acquire our company,” Onavo co-founders Guy Rosen and Roi Tiger wrote on their blog, without saying how much the social networking giant had agreed to pay.

Local media reports priced the acquisition at $100-200 million (73 million to 147 million euros) and said it would see Facebook open its first research and development centre in Israel.

Founded in 2010, Onavo develops applications to help users better manage mobile data costs, particularly when they travel abroad.

It also has a corporate arm, which provides businesses with market intelligence about users’ application usage.

The website of Israel’s Haaretz daily said 30 of Onavo’s 40 employees are based in Israel, while the rest work from Palo Alto, California.

Onavo’s “Tel Aviv office will remain open for business and will become Facebook’s new Israeli office,” the blog entry read.