A daily digest of IT news, curated from blogs, forums and news sites around the web each morning. We highlight the key commentary and demystify the real story.
The Facebook IPO will be official later today, we're told. The rumor-mill sets the price per share at around $45, assuming the $100 billion valuation being bandied about. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers wonder if it'll be (NYSE:FB) or (NASDAQ:FB).
Your humble blogwatcher (@richi ) curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: 20 Rejected Monopoly Chance Cards...
Anthony Hughes and Stephen Lacey report a $5B rumor:
Facebook is expected to file..[an] IPO prospectus on Wednesday..[and] to finalise the IPO process by May, pending a smooth registration process.
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[F]inal pricing..[is] unlikely to be settled for at least three months..[but] trading in Facebook stock on private exchanges [points] to a US$80bn-plus valuation.
Sean Ludwig adds:
[D]etails are leaking like a well-worn faucet. .. If..true, the $5 billion IPO would be..smaller than expected. Rumors had been..[predicting] a $10 billion offering on a $100 billion valuation.
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Its unclear at this point if Facebook will end up on The New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq. .. Facebook has reserved the ticker symbol $FB.
$5B? Why so low? Michael J. de la Merced knows:
At $5 billion, the size of the offering is remarkably small. .. But other Internet companies that have gone public in the last year..initially sought small..amounts, only to raise those targets after gauging..demand.
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Should Facebook expand the size of the stock sale..the I.P.O. will be the biggest technology offering in history. .. The current record holder is Infineon..which raised nearly $5.9 billion in 2000.
Meanwhile, Robert Hof collides with the elephant in the room:
[The] biggest question..is this: Can Facebook keep growing so fast?
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[The] success of this most iconic IPO..depends squarely on whether Facebooks breakneck growth looks to continue. .. Only Facebook insiders know for sure.
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Some advertisers remain unconvinced that the new..social-infused ads..will work for their brands..[but] business is accelerating so far in the new year. .. Facebook has only started to exploit the potential of its massive audience..[but] Facebooks revenues [will be] volatile for some time.
