The multi-billion dollar Facebook firm makes its first acquisition in Israel, buying up a developer of Internet applications for mobile phones.

The multi-billion dollar Facebook corporation has made its first Israeli acquisition, paying $60-70 million for Snaptu, a developer of Internet applications for mobile phones.

Snaptu's founders will pocket millions of dollars in the sale, which gives Facebook a base for its research and development center in Israel.

Snaptu is technically a British start-up, but has offices in Tel Aviv and California as well, and it raised $6 million in venture capital funding last year.

The company markets a mobile solution to allow owners of regular phones to have the ability for a “Smartphone-like” experience by downloading the Snaptu platform to their telephones, giving them access to social networks.

Facebook’s purchase indicates its view that handsets with Smartphone ability will be an important of the growing global telecommunications market.

"Earlier this year, we announced the launch of a new Facebook mobile application to give people a great mobile experience on a broad range of feature phones,” Snaptu announced. "We soon decided that working as part of the Facebook team offered the best opportunity to keep accelerating the pace of our product development. And joining Facebook means we can make an even bigger impact on the world."