Facebook said Thursday regulators have given the green light to its $19 billion acquisition of mobile messenger service WhatsApp.

The statement by the social-media giant confirms an exclusive report in The Post on April 8 saying the Federal Trade Commission had cleared the deal.

“We’re pleased the FTC has completed its review and cleared our acquisition of WhatsApp,” a Facebook spokeswoman said. “Naturally, both companies will continue to comply with all applicable laws after the transaction closes.”

The FTC, in a letter to both companies, said they need to be vigilant about protecting user privacy.

When Facebook announced the merger Feb. 19, there were some who believed the FTC would conduct a much longer investigation.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg included $1 billion in cash and $1 billion in Facebook shares as a break-up fee payable to WhatsApp if regulatory authorities stopped the merger.

One person who opposed the deal told The Post that while it is easy to build a private messaging application, few have scale.

“Facebook, through this acquisition” of its fastest-rising competitor, “buys itself a decade” of time before being chased by a rival, he said.

“There’s only one explanation for paying $19 billion, and that is to get rid of competition,” the person said.

Facebook shares fell 5.2 percent Thursday to close at $59.16.