Facebook Inc. is inching closer to an initial public offering that it hopes will value the company at more than $100 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.
According to the report, the social networking firm is now targeting a time frame of April to June 2012 for an initial public offering, said people familiar with the matter. The company is exploring raising $10 billion in its IPO – what would be one of the largest offerings ever – in a deal that might assign Facebook a $100 billion valuation, a number greater than twice that of such stalwarts as Hewlett-Packard Co. and 3M Co.
A Facebook IPO has been hotly anticipated for several years, and viewed as a defining moment for the latest Web investing boom. The company has been vague about whether it would even make such an offering and silent on timing of an IPO. "We're not going to participate in speculation about an IPO," said Facebook spokesman Larry Yu.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has in the past publicly expressed reluctance to do an IPO. And he has opted to keep Facebook private longer than many suspected he would. But he is warming to the idea. Facebook is now in internal discussions over the timing of its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and is considering filing dates as early as this year, said these people. Mr. Zuckerberg hasn't made any final decisions, these people cautioned.
Facebook has gone so far as to craft its own prospectus, said the people familiar with the matter. A prospectus document—which is filed with the SEC outlining the company's business—is typically prepared by bankers and lawyers hired by a company.
Facebook Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman has been leading the company's talks with Silicon Valley bankers about an IPO, said people familiar with the matter.
A Facebook offering of $10 billion would be the largest IPO by any technology or Internet company. The largest U.S. Internet IPO, the $1.9 billion sale in 2004 by Google Inc. which valued Google at $23 billion, ranks No. 3 among global Internet IPOs.
