Earlier this year it was announced that FaceBook had struck an agreement with Instagram to buy the photo-sharing company for $1bn (£637m).

However, since then any deal has been delayed by The Office of Fair Trading who have undertaken an investigation into the takeover. Today they announced that they will not be referring the deal to the Competition Commission, essentially giving FaceBook the green light to complete the deal.

Since Instagram launched in 2010 the photo-sharing phenomenon has acquired more than 50 million users, with many of the world’s top brands using it as part of their marketing strategy.

The reason for the investigation was due to fears that FaceBook could potentially block Instagram users from sharing photos via other sites and social networks.

The move to acquire Instagram is thought to be part of FaceBook’s much bigger campaign to move all its services over to mobile. Experts are now predicting that FaceBook is generating less revenue per user as more people switch to accessing FaceBook by their mobile device.