Facebook Preps IPO Filing for Next Week
Deal is expected to value the social network at as much as $100 billion.
| Posted Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, at 3:49 PM ET
MYSLATE
MySlate is a new tool that you track your favorite parts Slate. You can follow authors and sections, track comment threads
you're interested in, and more.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook execs are reportedly in the process of finalizing the company's IPO
Photograph by Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images.
Facebook could file for its highly-anticipated initial public offering as early as next week, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.
People familiar with the plan tell the paper that the social media titan is close to finalizing a deal with Morgan Stanley as the lead underwriter for the IPO, and that the deal would value the social network at somewhere in the neighborhood of $75 billion to $100 billion.
The Journal with some context:
At a valuation between $75 billion and $100 billion, Facebook is looking to raise as much as $10 billion, said people familiar with the matter. The final valuation will be determined by a variety of factors, people familiar with the matter cautioned, such as investor demand for social media, the IPO market and the health of the European economy.
A $10 billion Facebook offering would rank fourth among U.S. companies, behind Visa Inc., General Motors Co. and AT&T Wireless. At a $100 billion valuation, Facebook would be worth about the same as McDonald's Corp. and nearly half of Google Inc.
The filing could reportedly come as soon as Wednesday, but it's not a done deal just yet. Several sources told the Journal that Facebook execs are weighing whether to wait a few weeks before filing.
