After months of anticipation, Facebook is now closer to completing its takeover of Instagram, the popular photo-sharing application.
On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had closed its investigation on the proposed acquisition. Facebook now faces a fairness hearing on the transaction next week. While the hearing cannot technically stop the deal from closing, objections may push back the final closing date. Facebook previously said it expected the deal to close by the end of this year.
“We are pleased that the Federal Trade Commission has cleared the transaction after its careful and thorough review,†Facebook said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Instagram deal, brokered in April, was once trumpeted as Facebook's first billion-dollar deal. However, the transaction, which includes $300 million in cash and about 23 million shares, is now worth far less, in the wake of Facebook's rapid decline in the public markets. Based on Wedn esday's closing price of $19.44, the deal is now worth about $747 million.
