Technology, Facebook Ipo | featured news

Facebook will go public on May 18, a published report says, in one of the most highly anticipated tech initial public offerings since Google went public in August 2004.

Despite rumors of delays, Facebook could begin its roadshow as soon as early next week, according to two people briefed on the company's plans.

Facebook’s market debut has been expected to be in mid- to late May, but a report from CNBC indicates that the process could take a little longer than analysts expected. The report, citing unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” pinpoints June as the new expected time range for the IPO and says Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has been so busy with business and acquisitions that the company hasn’t had time to put the final touches on its prep for going public.

Facebook Inc reported its first quarter-to-quarter revenue slide in at least two years, a sign that the social network's sizzling growth may be cooling as it prepares to go public in the biggest ever Internet IPO.

Facebook will list its shares with Nasdaq, according to media reports. That would be a big win for the Nasdaq, which competes fiercely with NYSE Euronext Inc., especially for an initial public offering as large as Facebook's, pegged at $5 billion. The New York Times and CNBC cited anonymous sources on the potential listing.

Facebook Inc. is already trading like a public company as insiders and wealthy investors use private marketplaces to buy and sell stock in the social- networking company ahead of its initial offering.

Without the free content created by its 850 million users, Facebook would surely not be on the verge of a multibillion-dollar initial public offering.

For all the huge numbers in Facebook's IPO papers, a surprisingly small figure stands out: $4.39, the amount the site generated per user last year....

Facebook has filed papers for what's expected to be the largest initial public offering ever to come out of Silicon Valley and one of the largest in U.S. history. Ending months of breathless speculation, the 8-year-old social networking company has submitted registration documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that set preliminary goal of $5 billion. Facebook had discussed raising as much as $10 billion. Final pricing will not be set for months, and the size of the IPO probably will increase with investor demand. The filing sets the stage for an IPO in May.