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The Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) IPO opening share price is likely to increase, as is the size of the offer, giving a valuation of about $100 billion. Also, the timeline has been brought forward, so that the order deadline is today, we're told. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers boggle over all of Mark Zuckerberg's paper 'money'.
[Update: There's been a sudden, unexpected, huge increase in available shares]
By Richi Jennings: Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: League of Legends Rap...
Shayndi Raice and Joe Light tag-team to report:
Facebook...raised the price range for its IPO to $34 to $38 a share...said a person familiar with the matter. ... [It puts] Facebook's valuation at...$93 billion to $104 billion...as investor interest ramps up.
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Sophisticated investors who can meet financial requirements have been able to trade...Facebook for some time on secondary markets. But the IPO will turn Facebook into a public company.
Zijing Wu and Sarah Frier, likewise add:
Facebook will likely finish taking orders for the IPO after U.S. markets close [today] said [a source] who declined to be identified.
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The world’s most popular social-network...is seeking a market value...[that] would surpass...UPS as the most valuable company in history to go public in the U.S.
And Josh Constine has his own sources:
Facebook will IPO on Friday with...Zuckerberg ringing the NASDAQ bell remotely from...Menlo Park.
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Wall Street pros aside, national fervor...has amateur investors pleading with their brokers to get them stock. ... [My] sources [say] that Facebook is very likely to sell up to an additional 50.6 million shares as...a "greenshoe."
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The IPO will come as a huge reward for Facebook's employees...who've put their blood, sweat, and tears into growing the company.
But Owen Thomas sees Zuck "dissing" the Street:
He might even wear a hoodie. ... Zuckerberg is sending every possible signal that Facebook...will not be beholden to investors.
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[E]verything in the Facebook IPO process has been expertly stage-managed. ... Why would the opening bell be any different?
Meanwhile, Evelyn M. Rusli says "Pricing can be tricky":
Its underwriters will want to orchestrate a healthy first day bump...to signal the market’s confidence in the stock...[but a] big surge is unappealing, because it indicates that the company...left too much money on the table and...might encourage investors to turn over shares quickly.
Update: Lee Spears, Douglas Macmillan and Zijing Wu note a huge increase in available shares:
[I]nvestors such as Accel Partners...increased the number of shares they're selling.
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Goldman Sachs more than doubled its shares on offer. ... Digital Sky Technologies increased its amount 74 percent. ... Tiger Global Management is selling...almost 7 times the amount first offered. ... Facebook's executives and directors increased the amount of shares they're selling 62 percent.
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While the expanded IPO may mean the appetite for shares is strong, [this] decision...may heighten some investors' concern over Facebook's earnings growth.
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Facebook's debut would surpass that of General Motors...the second-largest in U.S. history.
Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. He's the creator and main author of Computerworld's IT Blogwatch, for which he has won ASBPE and Neal awards. He also writes The Long View for IDG Enterprise. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
