Friday 27 January 2012

Facebook IPO Could Value It Among Top Companies


Facebook IPO Could Value It Among Top Companies.Facebook Inc. could file the papers for its initial public offering next week, people familiar with the matter said, as anticipation mounts for what is likely to be one of the biggest debuts for an American company.

The deal, seen as a defining moment for the last Web boom invest, could raise up to $ 10 billion and the value of social networks between 75 billion to $ 100 billion, said people familiar with the subject. A valuation of $ 75 billion would be below previous forecasts.

The site, in less than eight years, has attracted more than 800 million members, has changed the way people communicate around the world, to organize political demonstrations to share baby photos.

The Internet giant is close to picking Morgan Stanley to lead the case, these people said. The Wall Street banks, many of them are struggling amid a setting of business profits, were jostling for a lead role in the case, which could yield tens of millions of dollars in bank charges, the potential for new business and bragging rights.

A glance at Morgan Stanley would mark a disappointment for rival Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which a year ago was considered to have an edge to conduct the case. A person familiar with the matter said that while Morgan Stanley would probably land the coveted "lead-left" a stain on deposit IPO Financial, Goldman would also likely play a significant role.

The spokesman for Facebook, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Facebook could file documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, said a person familiar with the matter. But the timing is just a scenario Facebook executives are considering, such person. Managers are also considering filing a few weeks later, the person said.

People familiar with the matter said the company is targeting an IPO between April and June

An offer of $ 10 billion Facebook is the fourth largest initial public offerings for U.S. companies, behind Visa Inc., General Motors Co. and AT & T Wireless, according to Dialogic. It would rank as the internet Facebook great American to date to replace Google Inc., which raised $ 1.9 billion in 2004 to an evaluation of 23 billion.

At a value of 100 billion, Facebook would be worth about the same as McDonald's and nearly half of Google.

Facebook revenue is driven by its advertising business, as the leading brands on the site to interact with consumers through display ads and fan pages. Facebook has been able to increase its advertising revenue worldwide from $ 738 million in 2009 to $ 3.8 billion in 2011, according to estimates from research firm eMarketer. We do not know if Facebook is profitable.

Final evaluation of Facebook will be determined by a variety of factors, people familiar with the matter said, as investor demand for social media, the IPO market and the health of the European economy.
[FBOOK]

The IPO mint a new generation of millionaires in Silicon Valley on the level not seen since Google's offering. Some 3,000 people work at Facebook.

An IPO will also test the capacity of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, 27, managing a global company whose financial performance will be reviewed every three months by investors. Mr. Zuckerberg started the company in 2004 from his dorm room at Harvard University. Overall, about 500 million users now connect to the site daily, according to Facebook.

Mr. Zuckerberg was reluctant to proceed with an IPO. People familiar with his thinking said he was afraid to damage it could do an IPO for the company culture. He wants employees are to make good products, not stock prices, they said.

But outside forces are partly pushing his hand. Facebook executives have begun to realize in 2010 that Facebook had more than 500 shareholders at the end of 2011, triggering a regulatory requirement that Facebook started publicly denounce financial information.

Zuckerberg decided it made more sense for Facebook to publicize and raise financial benefits of an IPO, rather than remain private, but to release its financial results, said people familiar with his thinking.

Direct selling Facebook would be a great victory for Morgan Stanley, which last year cemented its position as the leading underwriter of shares in leading Internet IPOs of LinkedIn Corp., Inc. Groupon and Zynga Inc. Global investment bank technology banking team, led by Michael Grimes and Paul Chamberlain, is also based in Menlo Park.

Facebook is a cap of the recent wave of initial public offerings on the Web, some of which have struggled amid increasing investor consideration of new Internet companies. But investors and analysts now believe could be a good time for an offer from Facebook.

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this year, the overall market rose on Friday and other Internet stocks rallied on the news that Facebook would soon apply for a transaction. "The excitement around Facebook is still huge," said Max Wolff, an analyst at Capital Green crest, which looks for companies in progress.

Climate recent IPO "was not particularly strong," said Peter Falvey, co-head of technology banking group at Morgan Keegan & Co. But Mr. Falvey said that "the strength of the recent stock market and can be some green shoots economy, there may be a window for Facebook chance.”

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