Facebook Inc. 's WhatsApp Deal Set For EU Antitrust OK

Facebook Inc.'s

$19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp will soon obtain the approval of European antitrust regulators, according to a report Thursday. Uncertainty about the European Union's review was raised earlier this month after regulators sent a second wave of detailed questions concerning the merger to Facebook competitors. But Reuters cited unnamed sources Wednesday saying regulators will grant unconditional approval to the landmark deal. A decision is expected by Oct. 3. European telecom concerns have reportedly opposed the merger. But EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told Bloomberg earlier this month that issues won't take long to review. "It's not the most difficult merger that we have dealt with." Almunia said. The deal was approved by U.S. antitrust regulators in April and Facebook sought approval from EU regulators earlier this year as a means of avoiding similar separate potential reviews in each of the organization's 28 member states. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said recently he believes WhatsApp messaging service could reach up to 3 billion users. Facebook currently counts 1.3 billion users and WhatsApp counted 450 million at the time its acquisition was announced in February. Facebook traded recently at $77.65 a share, down about 1 percent.