NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission says it has closed its investigation of Facebook's planned acquisition of the mobile photo-sharing app Instagram.
The deal can now proceed as planned. The FTC, which investigates potentially anti-competitive business practices, said Wednesday that it is taking no action on the proposed purchase.
Facebook Inc. agreed to buy Instagram in April. That was more than a month before the social networking icon's rocky initial public offering. At the time, the cash-and-stock deal was worth $1 billion. But Facebook's stock has lost nearly half of its value since its initial public offering. Based on Thursday's price, the deal is valued at about $748 million.
