Li Ka-shing foundation buys Facebook stake: source

By Eric Auchard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Online social network Facebook.com has closed a $60 million investment by Li Ka-shing through the billionaire Hong Kong tycoon's foundation, a source familiar with the deal confirmed on Monday.

The source said the deal, which values Facebook on the same $15 billion terms as the stake Microsoft Corp took in the fast-growing social network site in October, involves an investment by the Li Ka Shing Foundation.

Li-backed companies such as Hutchison Whampoa Ltd and TOM Group were not involved, the source said.

The stake gives Li a 0.4 percent share of Facebook. Microsoft's holdings represent another 1.6 percent.

The All Things Digital blog, owned by Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co, reported the deal on Friday.

A Facebook spokesman declined to comment. Spokesmen for Hutchison and Li's foundation also declined to comment.

Earlier on Monday, TOM denied it had invested in Facebook after reports of the investment by Li, TOM's major shareholder, helped push its shares 48 percent higher in Hong Kong.

"There is speculation that Li's investment could translate into closer ties or a partnership between TOM and Facebook," an analyst with a U.S. investment bank said of TOM's leap. "But I believe it's too early to talk about any co-operations."