Feb 15 (Reuters) - Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp soared nearly 30% on Thursday after regulators cleared the way for its merger with former U.S. President Donald Trump's social media platform.

Digital World said a registration statement for its proposed merger with Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the owner of social media platform Truth Social, was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shares of the blank-check acquisition firm were last trading up 20% at $52.16, having touched a session high of $56.3.

Digital World said it expects to announce the date of a special meeting of its stockholders to vote on the approval of the merger within two business days.

The stock has surged more than 150% since Jan. 15 when Trump won the Iowa caucus in his push as a Republican nominee for presidential election this year.

DWAC faced several challenges in its bid to complete the deal with TMTG.

It has been the target of investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC, replaced its chief executive and shook up its board.

Shares of video-sharing platform Rumble, which is popular with conservatives, rose nearly 11%, while software developer Phunware, hired by Trump's 2020 presidential re-election campaign to build a phone app, rose 1%.

Phunware was one of the most traded stocks across all major U.S. exchanges. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)