Facebook is mulling a $10 billion initial public offering (IPO) next year that would provide the social media giant with a market value of $100 billion, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg, though this flotation amount is speculative.
Lise Buyer, principal of IPO advisory firm Class V Group, told the media outlet that “it’s far too early to accurately predict where the valuation will be on deal day.”
If Facebook’s flotation raises $10 billion, it will be the largest tech IPO thus far, easily surpassing the $1.7 billion that Google raised during its 2004 IPO. The media outlet reports that the largest tech IPO in history happened when Infineon Technologies AG generated $5.23 billion during the dot-com era. The second largest IPO came from Agere Systems, which raised $4.14 billion during the same time period.
The social media giant issued a statement during a January funding round that expressed its expectation of surpassing 500 shareholders some time this year, which will require it to file documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission either on or before April 30, 2012.
