Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) acquisition of WhatsApp might not have happened according to a new report by Bloomberg. The media outlet reports that Tencent had already approached owners of the messaging app prior to the giant social network coming in and brokering a deal.

Tencent Delay

A deal between Tencent and WhatsApp never materialized because of Tencent co-founder, Pony Ma, delaying his visit to Silicon Valley. Ma was recovering from surgery at the time, something that made it impossible for him to meet with WhatsApp executives.

However, it appears Tencent may still have struggled to rival Facebook given its financial muscle. The tech giant offered double the amount Tencent was proposing, something that caught WhatsApp by surprise. It is, however, unclear whether Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, knew about Ma’s offer or condition prior to him tabling a $19 billion deal.

 Zuckerberg Aggressiveness

The WhatsApp acquisition does not mark the first time that Zuckerberg has tried to undercut a competitor when it comes to acquisition targets. The acquisition of Oculus happened in a matter of days as the executive sought to fend off competition from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) for the virtual reality company.

A deal for Oculus could have happened in a matter of hours had the two parties not struggled to find key people to sign up for the deal. Court filings indicate that Facebook wanted to make a deal over the weekend having opened discussion on a Friday.

“We were having a lot of [conversations] on our side about whether this was the right thing to go forward and do. $2 billion is a lot of money … this was a real big strategy investment … it was a big and contentious discussion…. until the end we weren’t certain,” said Mr. Zuckerberg.

The deal did not happen over the weekend on Facebook’s deal marker raising concern over some things that sounded ‘untrue.’

Facebook stock was up by 1.77% in Wednesday’s trading session to end the day at $153.24 a share.