May 11, 2012

Facebook’s IPO Already Oversubscribed

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was criticized yesterday for wearing a hoodie to a meeting with investors, but that doesn’t seem to be affecting the popularity of their upcoming IPO.

Reuters reveal that institutional demand for the flotation remains very strong, with more demand for stocks than the available supply.

The news will please Facebook bosses, who are hoping to raise $10.6 billion from the flotation, where more than 337 million shares will go on sale for between $28 and $35 each.

It is expected that if demand remains strong that this price range may rise to allow Facebook to cash in on the popularity of the offering.

One large institutional investor had put in a major order for shares on Wednesday and was calling around syndicate desks trying to acquire more, a second source familiar with the IPO’s progress told Reuters, declining to be identified because the details are not public.

Facebook shares are expected to begin trading on the 18th May after what is expected to be the largest tech IPO ever seen.

Facebook has 900 million users and whilst most of its income thus far has come from advertising, there is every indication that it will soon move into search, either with its own search engine or by increasing its relationship with Bing, the Microsoft owned search engine.
They will also have to find a way to monetize the increasing number of users that access the website from their mobile phones.  Facebook, which makes most of its money from advertising, began offering limited ads on the mobile version of its service only recently.

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