Courtesy of Net Imperative http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/netimperative/news/2012/05/facebook_could_face_yearlong_a.php

According to a report by Reuters, the US Federal Trade Commission has started an investigation into the purchase of mobile photo-sharing app Instagram by social networking colossus Facebook.

The antitrust probe could take between six months and a year to complete, disrupting plans to have the deal closed within the next few months.

According to a report from the Financial Times, the competition procedure is routine for any deal worth over $68.2 million in the US.




Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg made it clear that the company plans to build on Instagram's strengths rather than simply integrating it with Facebook.

'That's why we're committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people,' he stated.


The FTC's review of the deal comes as Facebook is preparing to raise as much as $12 billion in a record-breaking initial public offering that could occur as soon as next week.


Until the deal is finalised Facebook will be unable to work on any part of Instagram.