ipo

Facebook, bankers want IPO lawsuit thrown out of court

Facebook and the banks that financed its IPO want a judge to put the brakes on a slew of lawsuits filed by unhappy investors.

In court documents released Wednesday, Facebook claimed it was not required to reveal its own forecasts on how its mobile and product strategy might affect future sales, Reuters said today, even if that information had been disclosed to its underwriters.

Facebook is facing a host of lawsuits claiming that it misled investors about its financial health before it went public last year. Morgan Stanley and other underwriters are also targeted in many of the suits, blaming … Read more

Facebook and GM restore ad relationship after public spat

When General Motors pulled its $10 million advertising campaign from Facebook last year, it caused quite a commotion. Now, the carmaker seems to be having second thoughts.

GM has confirmed that it will reignite its ad campaign on the social network, according to Ad Age. This is a major turnaround from last year, when it proclaimed that Facebook ads simply didn't work.

"Chevrolet is testing a number of mobile-advertising solutions, including Facebook, as part of its 'Find New Roads' campaign," Chevrolet's U.S. VP of marketing, Chris Perry, told CNET. "Yesterday, Chevrolet launched an industry-first, '… Read more

Nasdaq gets OK to pay out $62M for botched Facebook IPO

The Securities and Exchange Commission today approved Nasdaq OMX Group's plans to distribute as much as $62 million in cash to investors involved in Facebook's botched IPO.

The stock exchange operator will give funds to brokerages that lost money due to Nasdaq glitches that delayed the May 18 debut of Facebook shares by half an hour.

After the stock finally started trading, would-be investors complained they were not able to confirm changes or cancellations made to Facebook orders starting as early as 4:30 a.m. PT. Later on in the morning, some traders said they had not … Read more

SEC probe on Facebook pre-IPO sales ends in financier's arrest

To many investors last year, it must have seemed like an amazing opportunity -- giving financier Craig Berkman thousands in cash in exchange for early dibs at Facebook's highly coveted pre-IPO shares.

Berkman, 71, seemed trustworthy. He was a former gubernatorial candidate for Oregon, the state's Republican chairman between 1989 and 1993, and an ex-investment banker.

Little did they know that Berkman was said to have pocketed that money -- totaling $8 million -- and then allegedly used it to pay off debts and fund personal expenses.

Berkman was arrested in Florida today for allegedly defrauding investors in … Read more

Facebook served new lawsuit over bungled IPO

Just when it seemed like the Facebook shareholder lawsuits were easing up, the social network has been hit with a new IPO suit.

Investor Gaye Jones filed a new case against Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and the company's underwriters today, according to Reuters. Like several other investors that have sued Facebook, Jones claims that the social network knew about its weak revenue trends before its IPO but failed to disclose this information.

"The defendants were unjustly enriched because they realized enormous profits and financial benefits from the IPO, despite knowing that reduced revenue and earnings forecasts for … Read more

Dropbox reportedly preparing for IPO later this year

Dropbox has already been in the planning stages and holding meeting with banks about turning into a public company during the second half of 2013, according to Quartz.

Based on unnamed sources said to be "briefed on the talks," Quartz suggested that the cloud storage provider is ready for an initial public offering now following the debut of its new business products.

Earlier this week, Dropbox rolled out several new features and a new console for IT administrators as it attempts to ramp up its enterprise efforts.

The additional set of services for businesses certainly makes Dropbox look … Read more

Judge tosses some shareholder suits over Facebook's IPO flop

Things may be looking up for Facebook in the dozens of lawsuits it's facing from peeved shareholders over its botched initial public offering.

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet ruled in favor of Facebook today and dismissed a group of these cases, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The social network became embroiled in this extensive legal battle shortly after its $16 billion IPO last May. The company's stock opened on the Nasdaq priced at $38 a share and, aside from a slight uptick right at the start, proceeded to plummet in the days and weeks following. Defendants … Read more

Nasdaq said to be settling with SEC over Facebook's IPO flop

Dozens of lawsuits and investigations emerged after Facebook's initial public offering on the Nasdaq Stock Market last year. One investigation, initiated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, focused on technical errors in Nasdaq's system that inadvertently delayed trading that first day.

Now, word has it that Nasdaq may be able to settle the debacle with the federal regulators, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sources familiar with the matter have told the Journal that Nasdaq has been in preliminary settlement talks with the SEC. If the two sides do make a deal, it will most likely … Read more

5 consequences of Dell's $24.4 billion deal to go private

Dell's $24.4 billion deal to go private is a sign of the times. The PC market is collapsing, Microsoft is trying to save it, and the IPO isn't what it used to be.

The company is about to get a major transformation. Once the deal is completed (with a $2 billion loan from Microsoft as part of the financing), it will be owned by Silver Lake Partners and Dell founder Michael Dell. But what exactly does going private mean for the company? What impact will it have on the markets?

Here are a few potential consequences of … Read more

Box aims to package up IPO for 2014

Box is poised to go public as soon as next year, following in the footsteps of other recent and successful Wall Street debuts for enterprise software companies.

The company's co-founder and CEO, Aaron Levie, told Bloomberg in an interview that Box is aiming to declare an initial public offering in 2014. He hinted that 2013 is still a possibility, but he described it as a "long shot."

Levie added that Box will "have to go public" as company leaders have no intention to be acquired by a larger competitor, perhaps Google or even Microsoft.

Expectations … Read more