Facebook may get stock IPO with up to $100 billion worth
updated 03:05 pm EST, Fri January 27, 2012
Facebook public stock offering may come Wednesday
Facebook's long-rumored initial public offering (IPO) of stock could be filed as soon as Wednesday if a new leak proves real. The share plans seen by the Wall Street Journal would most likely be underwritten by Morgan Stanley with help from Goldman Sachs. At $75 billion to $100 billion of expected value, it would be one of the most valuable IPOs to date.
The aim would be to raise as much as $10 billion from early trading. Its long-term aims for the cash weren't apparent.
Facebook's IPO had been anticipated for a long time as many, smaller companies had already gone public where the world's largest social network had stayed private. A public move was considered inevitable given that it was quickly running out of slots for private investors. Beyond a certain threshold, Facebook would have been legally required to take its stock public whether or not it was ready.
Neither Facebook nor its possible banking partners had commented on the possible deal.
