Facebook will file for its much-hyped initial public offering on Wednesday with dramatically less money up-front than initially reported; $5 billion instead of $10 billion, according to the International Financing Report.
The company is still expected to be valued at close to the $100 billion speculated by The Wall Street Journal in its January 27 report that targeted the IPO filing for February 1, the IFR report just indicates that the company will be offering fewer shares than previously anticipated.
Facebook is currently valued at just over $80 billion on the secondary market, according to IFR.
“The smaller deal size reflects a decision to start with a conservative base before deciding whether to increase,” IFR reported, adding “With final pricing of Facebook shares unlikely to be settled for at least three months, it is still unclear what valuation the company is targeting on the IPO.”
Morgan Stanley has been selected as the lead underwriter of the IPO, edging out Goldman Sachs, according to IFR, conducive with the earlier reporting by the Journal. Goldman will still participate as one of the five total bookrunners and Facebook aims to complete the IPO process in May, according to the report.
All of which means that it will be a while before any public investors can actually buy into “FB” stock.
After all, Facebook is expected only to file its prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.
The SEC then has to review the prospectus, return to Facebook with any issues, and finally Facebook may update it and submit a final report before any actual trading begins. The IPO filing process can take up to 12 weeks.
Carl Franzen
Carl Franzen is TPM Idea Lab's tech reporter. He used to work for The Daily, AOL and The Atlantic Wire (though not simultaneously, thankfully). He's never met a button that didn't need to be pressed. He can be reached at carl@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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