According to reports from Reuters, Microsoft has won antitrust approval from the US’s Federal Trade Commission for their acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion announced back in May 2011. The transaction was granted on June 16, 2011 and was posted on the FTC’s website.

Mary Jo Foley tried to get a response from Microsoft, however the Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on this approval. It is understood that Microsoft still requires antitrust approval from other jurisdictions, including the European Commission, before the deal can settle. However, this is definitely a major milestone for the deal before we can finally see Microsoft integrating Skype into their various communication products such as Lync and Messenger.