NEW DELHI: Facebook's $19 billion deal (Rs 1,16,000 crore) to acquire
WhatsApp may face a detailed scrutiny by the country's fair trade
regulator CCI, especially since both players have significant presence
in India.
The world's largest social networking site Facebook has around 1.2 billion members globally while WhatsApp -- a platform that allows exchange of messages and files through mobile phones free of cost -- is estimated to have 450 million users worldwide.
All merger and acquisition deals, involving companies having India presence, have to get approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which has the mandate to keep a tab on unfair trade practices at the market place.
A senior official said the Commission is yet to receive an application seeking approval for the deal, but it would indeed face an elaborate scrutiny.
Both Facebook and WhatsApp have substantial number of customers in India and they may soon file a notice with CCI to seek its clearance for the deal.
While India has nearly 93 million Facebook users, the count of people using the popular WhatsApp service is around 40 million in the country.
The world's largest social networking site Facebook has around 1.2 billion members globally while WhatsApp -- a platform that allows exchange of messages and files through mobile phones free of cost -- is estimated to have 450 million users worldwide.
All merger and acquisition deals, involving companies having India presence, have to get approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which has the mandate to keep a tab on unfair trade practices at the market place.
A senior official said the Commission is yet to receive an application seeking approval for the deal, but it would indeed face an elaborate scrutiny.
Both Facebook and WhatsApp have substantial number of customers in India and they may soon file a notice with CCI to seek its clearance for the deal.
While India has nearly 93 million Facebook users, the count of people using the popular WhatsApp service is around 40 million in the country.
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