Facebook seeks to raise US$5b in IPO

Source: Channel News Asia, 02 February 2012

Giant social network Facebook filed paperwork, seeking to raise $5 billion on Wall Street in the largest flotation ever by an Internet company. At $5 billion, Facebook's IPO would be the largest ever by a technology company, eclipsing the $1.9 billion raised by Internet search giant Google when it went public in 2004 at a valuation of $23 billion.

A market capitalization of $100 billion would put Facebook on a par with McDonald's ($101 billion), well ahead of Boeing ($55 billion) but behind Apple ($426 billion) and Google ($189 billion). Facebook's $5 billion fund-raising target is only preliminary and can be increased based on investor interest in the company. Facebook is the leading social network in all but six countries, notably Russia, where local rivals are preferred, and China, where it is banned.