The Federal Trade Commission has signed off on Facebook’s planned acquisition of Instagram, saying “the deal may now proceed as proposed.” The FTC conducted a nonpublic investigation into the deal after it was first announced in May but decided 5-0 against pursuing any action.
The FTC was concerned about Facebook becoming a dominant advertiser in photo sharing and potentially stifling competition. But it was unlikely that the government would intervene in the case. The Office of Fair Trading in the U.K. also recently approved the deal as well. It’s unclear how long before the actual sale is finalized.
However, the acquisition, once pegged at $ 1 billion, is not worth as much now that Facebook’s share price has plummeted to about $ 20 a share following its IPO. Instagram took $ 300 million in cash and 23 million shares at a price of $ 30 a share, which means that Instagram has lost more than $ 200 million since the deal was first announced.
