Facebook is looking at May 17 as the day its much-anticipated IPO will hit the market, according to a TechCrunch report that cites multiple unidentified sources close to the company.
That date, which is still dependent on the Securities and Exchange Commission signing off on the company's S-1, is in line with earlier reports. Facebook executives were reportedly in internal discussions in late November over when to file IPO papers, with a target date for its shares to make their debut on the market between April and June. Sources told AllThingsD that the initial public offering would likely occur during the third week of May.
The social-media giant's IPO is expected to be one of the largest tech offerings ever. The company filed an S-1 form with the SEC in February, officially declaring its intention to raise $5 billion through the IPO. That target dwarfs Google's $1.9 billion public offering -- the last monster tech IPO.
Adding intrigue to the equation was Facebook's recent acquisition of Instagram, a photo-sharing startup that has attracted more than 33 million users in less than 18 months of existence. While CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly orchestrated the Instagram purchase almost entirely on his own -- surprising even the company's board members -- Facebook's bankers are now reportedly working the acquisition's benefits into their talking points about the IPO.