Facebook buys animated image library Giphy for $400 million

Facebook Inc acquired Giphy, a library of video clips and animated images known as GIFs that can be attached to messages to express emotion, adding features that could encourage users to communicate through its apps.

Giphy will join the Instagram group within Facebook, according to a blog post on Friday, and the social-media giant has extended offers to more than 100 Giphy employees, a spokesperson said. The acquisition price was about $400 million, according to people familiar with the matter. Axios earlier reported the deal and its price. Facebook didn’t disclose terms.