Facebook IPO may be downsized to $5 billion
New sources revise the offering from $10 billion down to $5 billion. That would still make Facebook's IPO 3 times larger than Google's.
Facebook's initial public offering may raise $5 billion, half of what was previously estimated, according to a new report on International Financing Review. Facebook is expected to file papers to go public as early as tomorrow.
A $5 billion IPO would still put Facebook at the top of the stats box on money raised in tech IPOs. Google raised $1.9 billion in 2004. More recently, Zynga raised $1 billion, and Groupon raised $700 million. Social network LinkedIn raised $353 million.
Also still unknown: how much of the company will be offered. Early stories pegged that figure at 10 percent, giving Facebook a $100 billion market capitalization. If the offering is "reduced" to $5 billion from $10 billion, it's not known if the proportion of the company being offered will also be adjusted.
The Thomson Reuters-owned IFR reports that Morgan Stanley will lead the offering, with four other banks--Goldman, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and Barclays--also bookrunning the deal.