Instagram Inc. founder Kevin Systrom announced Thursday his photo-sharing service has officially been acquired by Facebook Inc.
The final closing of the deal had been expected following its clearance by California state regulators last week.
"We're officially joining the Facebook family," Mr. Systrom wrote in a post on the social site. "I'm psyched for the next chapter of this long journey."
Instagram was launched in late 2010, and by Mr. Systrom's own admission, had yet to hit on a viable business model when Facebook offered it an acquisition deal in April that at that point was valued at about $1 billion, including $300 million in cash and nearly 23 million Facebook shares then pegged at $31 apiece.
Facebook shares hit the public markets in a May IPO that initially priced them at $38 apiece. They have since tumbled--trading Thursday at just below $19 a share.
The sharp drop in the value of the Instagram deal thanks to Facebook's stock decline was the subject of a so-called fairness hearing held by California's Department of Corporations last week.
During that hearing, Mr. Systrom said the decline in overall value of the deal didn't bother him, adding, "We still believe firmly in the long-term value of Facebook."
The merger was led by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Mr. Systrom, who said last week deal talks stemmed from "a casual conversation" between the young executives.
"I want to personally thank everyone in the Instagram community for the last two years of inspiration," Mr. Systrom wrote in his post Thursday. "Here's to the next two as well!"
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