Professional social networking site LinkedIn is gearing up for its initial public offering, reporting that it plans to offer 7.84 million shares for $32 to $35 per share.
The Mountain View, Calif., company today released its plans in an amended filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). LinkedIn is expected to begin trading on May 19.
All eyes will be on LinkedIn's IPO since it will be the first social network to go public. Despite being a second-tier player in the social networking world of Facebook and Twitter -- each of which has garnered worldwide attention and millions of users -- LinkedIn is the first one out of the IPO starting gate.
LinkedIn, an online network of more than 100 million professionals in about 200 countries, informed the SEC today that is will be selling 4.83 million Class A common shares while selling stockholders will be offering up 3.01 million Class A common stock. The official filing also noted that the company plans to raise a maximum of $315.6 million.
The $315.6 million expectation is a leap from the filing LinkedIn made in January, when it reported that it expected to raise $175 million, according to Forbes.
In its SEC filing, LinkedIn reported that from 2009 to 2010, its net revenue increased by 102% and its net income increased by 487%. The company also told the SEC that executives plan on using the net proceeds from the IPO for several purposes, including product development and to potentially buy other businesses and technologies.
Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her e-mail address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.