It appears that the biggest tech IPO in history could be coming in just about four months. According to multiple sources, the highly-anticipated Facebook public offering is set for the third week of May.
All Things D cites multiple sources, saying that although this date is subject to a split-second change, late May is definitely the target right now. This means that the IPO documents must be filed soon, as the SEC review will take several months to complete.
Rumors of Facebook filing their IPO papers have been flying around for the past couple of months. November reports suggested that they could be filed as soon as December, but that obviously didn’t happen.
Last month, another report cited sources that said that Facebook was looking at some time between April and June of 2012 for its IPO, a timeframe that is now corroborated by this latest prediction.
Like I mentioned before, the Facebook IPO is shaping up to be the biggest tech IPO in history, as they aim to raise $10 billion and a $100 billion valuation. If accurate, the IPO would be about 6X bigger than Google’s IPO.
A little more info from All Things D’s sources:
Unlike Google’s more kookified 2004 IPO, sources said Facebook’s is probably going to hew to a more traditional offering script.
That is likely to include a hefty consortium of irksome investment bankers — think firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on top of the filings and a spate of smaller ones (Allen & Co.) below and you have the approximately accurate idea.
And, while shot-caller-in-chief Zuckerberg will be the one key voice in the IPO, the man to watch has and will be CFO David Ebersman.
The longtime Genentech exec, who came to Facebook in 2009, been doing all the heavy lifting in preparation for the IPO, said sources, and will continue to do so.
In November, daily deals company Groupon filed the biggest internet IPO since Google.