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FACEBOOK IS SET to file papers with US regulators later today and make a $5 billion initial public offering, according to numerous reports.
The social networking giant has selected Morgan Stanley and four other book-runners including Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and JP Morgan to handle the IPO, targeting a sale of $5 billion of shares, according to Reuters which cites IFR.
The website is valued at up to $100 billion so the initial $5 billion target could be ramped upwards in the coming months if there is investor demand. Reuters says this ‘coming-out party’ would likely dwarf tech rival Google’s IPO of $2 billion.
Analysts expect it to be the biggest market debut in US history.
The public filing has been long anticipated by investors with those who own shares in the company, including founder Mark Zuckerberg, set to become instant billionaires.
Zuckerberg founded the social network in his dorm room at Harvard university eight years ago and currently owns 24 per cent of the company.
U2 duo Bono and The Edge would also likely become billionaires if there is a subsequent full stock market flotation with their investment vehicle owning a 1.5 per cent stake in the site.
The Telegraph reports that going public will provide several challenges for Facebook and its CEO Zuckerberg who will be under pressure to ensure quarterly results meet or exceed expectation among Wall Street investors.
Facebook will need to balance its need to deliver revenue from advertising while at the same time not turning off users who have in the past expressed concerns with how the information it shares with the website is used.
But investors are certainly looking forward to it.
“Pandemonium is what I expect in terms of demand for this stock,” says Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO Boutique, an advisory firm. “I don’t think Wall Street would want to anger Facebook users.”
- additional reporting from AP
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just shows the low level of intelligence in this country.
@Niall English: Or yours?
@Niall English: thankfully it’s a lot higher than I thought it was a year ago.
@Niall English: yeah. Can’t believe how high Aontú and Shinners are. People be cray cray.
@Niall English: true, one in five still between the nonsense from SF/IRA
@Pat Hazzard: coming from a man who never experienced discrimination or state collusion in his life. If it were up to you, we’d still be having bloody Sundays in the north
@Eoin .h: Yes there was discrimination in the north but it was on both sides. Was the marriage ban on catholics not to marry Protestants not discrimination. In the early sixties, particularly among the younger generation, there was a coming together of both communities but thanks to the likes of Paisley, Adams and McGuinness relations were set back decades.
Did the indiscriminate bombings by the PIRA not make them worse than the British army.
@Vincent Alexander: no, there was not state discrimination on both. Orange order still today prevents members to associate with catholics. I’m talking about housing, employment both public and private sector, gerrymandering of electoral boundaries and public transport. Weird you also mentioned the early sixties as that’s exactly when the civil rights movement began.
Btw the IRA were actually the most discriminate to civilians compared to loyalist paramilitaries and British army (even when loyalist proxy gangs are excluded).
@Eoin .h: you’re right of course, the IRA were all about equality in their murders and that’s why they killed more Catholics than the others too.
@Darius Guppy: they didn’t. Check the Conflict Archives of Northern Ireland yourself
@Eoin .h: People like John Hume stood up for his community and fought discrimination. He didn’t murder, rape nor abuse, unlike the Provo leader and MI5 agent from Derry.
@Eoin .h: Prior to partition the Unionist slogan was “Home Rule is Rome Rule “. They were right in their prediction. In the Free State health and education handed over to the church with the resultant scandals and the Irish language as a compulsory subject. Jobs for the boys and the brown envelope culture wasn’t much different to the Orange state north of the border.
As regards the PIRA it is already mentioned about the number of catholics they killed. They weren’t very discriminate with the “disappeared” – Jean McConville for example – or the Canary Wharf bombing.
@Niall English: I guess you got that one wrong too!!
As Einstein said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing”….ah…f…it, why do I bother.
@Marcus Maher – Triskellion Films: also known as Stockholm Syndrome
@Marcus Maher – Triskellion Films: Is it terribly difficult for you to comprehend that not everybody shares your opinion?
It would be insane to think they do.
Blah blah blah.
@KTH: indeed, it appears the more the SF dad’s army comment on the Journal, support for FF/FG increases.
YES! Suck on that, plebs. Ahahahahahahahaha! We’re gonna take all of your taxes and cover this country with bike sheds and tent cities and you’re gonna love it, ye little dopes. Ahahahahahahaha. Imagine if we had a serious opposition party. Just think about it for a second. Spending our taxes to genuinely benefit the ones paying said taxes.
What a novel concept! I’m that disillusioned at this stage, I’m strongly considering getting into politics myself. I just hope there are smarter people than me on the same page.
@Mike: why dont you run, seeing as you have all the answers
@Peter Byrne: I’m genuinely considering it. Thank you for your input and I hope I can rely on your vote.
@Mike: Another Independent. Good luck with that!!
@chris gaffney: Thank you for your support, pleb. You are valued.
Surge? Up 3%….there was a time where the support for the main parties stood in the 30′s and the 40′s…heady days indeed
I wonder if it is actually true. I wonder about polls. Remember that referendums we had earlier this year, Sunday before both were been certain to pass yet were heavily defeated. I don’t believe it’s a true reflection on things.
@John Hally: Too many are clinging on two a small number of polls that got it wrong. Biggest issue for FG is impact of new candidates.
@John Hally: this was a poll of 1200 people.
@Tony Murphy: typo in original….”clinging on to a small number of recent polls that got it wrong….”
The sheep will be bamboozled by getting our own money back in a giveaway budget with “taxpayers” money. Oh the people are easily pleased and fooled. Immigration, homelessness,affordale homes for our citizens, health all issues that need to be addressed but the fools will vote for these hapless FFG party an the ministers for homelessness O Brien’, Donnelly, and O’Gorman to name a few are incompetent wasters.
Ffs
Bizarre!
A bit like the polls for the Referendums showing a clear victory for the Yes side, I don’t think this Election will pan out as per the polls, lots of anger on the ground. Housing, Immigration, Health, Law & Order are all major failures under this Govt’s watch.
@SV3tN8M4: what’s your prediction then, John? Maybe you think SF or FF are more popular than the poll suggests? Or maybe some random independents, or Aontu? Or Ireland First even?
@Kevin Kerr: Dude, seriously! Get a fkn life. It’s embarrassing how much time you spend on here towing the party line. I’m just glad I don’t know you in real life because I would have to give you a slap.
Mother of god, I blame the culchies and southsiders
@Freda Peeple: No more bike sheds for you.
Looks like a FFG permanent government for the foreseeable.I’d advise anyone 18-45 years to get out as fast as possible.
FFG could rule alone for the next 5 years with just a couple of independents with those results
@9QRixo8H: I think you need about 42% and transfers.
@9QRixo8H: Don’t be spreading nightmare scenarios!
May not translate into seats.Remember 18 have left and it takes time for new candidates to get established.
@JOHN O CONNELL: Will you “man up” and put yourself up for election?
@JOHN O CONNELL: Not much of a patriot then!
@Willie Marty: if fg get 27% of first preferences then they will get around 27% of seats. On a good day for transfers they might make it to 30, maybe even 31%. On a bad day, they still won’t be much under 25%
@JOHN O CONNELL: How does it feel to be a keyboard patriot? What have you done to improve our country?
@JOHN O CONNELL: I used my vote in recent local elections to make sure the so called “patriots” who degrade our flag didn’t get elected.
And we say Americans are thick
Thr lads from West Belfast won’t be happy with that drop in support.
That leaves them 16 tds with 17 not standing again,they have 27% rating,but they need another 16 newbies,whos going to vote for totally unknowns
@David Clarke: Irish people will, especially if it’s a celeb with no proven record, a shoe in here. Watch this space
-Record homelessness
-Unaffordable housing
-The party that brought you massive waste of public money..bike shelter,bam hosp etc etc
-corrupt td’s. .Damien English
-Hse…children not getting spinal ops, record waiting lists, private healthcare if u want to be looked after
-One of the most expensive countries to live in.
-very high taxes, except for foreigners
-Plenty if low paid jobs for full employment that pay so little you can’t live on it.
And on, And on
The result, FFG voted back in, very sophisticated electorate.
@David Clarke: but in many cases they won’t be total unknowns, they’ll be local councillors, or members of the senate. And even when they are total unknowns, the same will be true of many of the candidates from other parties
The Irish Times poll, taken in the Buttery at Trinity, amongst beer and weed addled students!
@Brian Hunt: Where did the Irish Times conduct their polls that previously showed SF as the most popular party?
SF and mary is finished
Shame on anybody supporting FG. How in your right mind could anyone support this vile party?. I would love to hear your explanation but like your glorious leader, Simon Harris, you obviously don’t give a damn what is happening to our country.
@Gerry Lamont: depends on the alternatives, no? Some of them are pretty vile as well, don’t you think?
Harris, who was elected on the 7 count at least, could have been more, with his popularity risen to 55%, or so. No wonder why so many young people have left this country. Imagine another term do FFG!
@dan donagher: Young people leave all the time. Travel and see the world. More need to do so.
Should scrap elections and just have a journal poll as clearly those in the comments section represent the majority of people in Ireland.
Better the devil you know?
@brian o’leary: WTF is that supposed to mean?.FFG/g are a poison that needs to be eradicated forever.
Most people are very happy with their lor and better off than ever
@Peter Byrne: Most people took responsibility for their lives and made good decisions. The people who whinge the loudest are those who constantly need to be outraged at the very government they expect to hold their hands and guide them through life. They are unhappy with their lives. They just haven’t figured out that they are fully in control.
I told some people, before local elections, that guys like Derek you know who, and other like them, have a deal with FG, while they were heavily attacking SF, PBP and other parties. I know it might shock you, but underground it’s a completely different world than the one in front of your eyes.
@Chris: underground being all the Nazis who couldn’t even manage to get 1% support in an actual election?
@Chris: They were heavily attacking the government parties as well.
We’ll never learn.
although I will say we have very little choice.
€336,000 bike shed obviously put them over the top Jesus wept….
Fine Gael’s hand out to the far-right is working, after all,didn’t Varadkar say that he’d work with the far-right and the far-left. Leaders change but policies remain the same. Making asylum seekers pay doe their stay in direct provision,they are stuck there through the extremely slow asylum process and the housing crisis, all caused by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, plus Labour and the Greens but hey, blame asylum seekers. They say we’re an intelligent country but didn’t Einstein say about doing the same thing twice and expecting different results, a subservient country that seems to enjoy being punished for the rich in the hope that one day they may be rich, not a hope, it’s a closed club but I suppose like Harris you could become Taoiseach and become rich through that.
@EOIN. h: The IRA killed more civilians than all other groups together! Look it up on CAIN.
Is because the opposition in the dail is useless
Look in You Tube for Mouse utopia.
It’s an experiment from 1960′s with mice. The mice had plenty of food, water and living space. But the spark of competition was gone. The population lost interest in reproduction and died out.
Males became effeminate . Females became aggressive and abandoned their offspring. The aggressives attacked the remaining ‘normal’ reproducing mice.
It looks like an explanation for the ‘progressive’ penetration of our society
@Antony Stack: You need to ease off the weed.
@Sun Rise:
Did you bother to look?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTDTVbourzU
Was a time when the people who really knew how to run the country were too busy driving taxis and cutting hair. Now they just post comments on The Journal
With the Apple Tax to spend the result of the next election is already decided
What this country needs is more bike sheds
And a space shuttle…
You can fool some of the people all the time is a truth
Harris is gone so is mick Martin Mcantee o Gorman bye bye and all the rest of the clowns
@Sean O: Post this again when you sober up.
It turns out that the end of the road for Sinn Fein came last year in November when the riot broke out in the city centre. Many of their followers realised only then that they are in essence a pro immigration party. I was wondering when the penny would drop on that for a long time and there it was. Bad timing for them. They were making hay on the current governments shambolic record on housing. There has been a slight uptick in that but what will happen is that more or less the current government will get returned, they will again rest on their laurels on housing but that they are exactly smashing it now and people will be outraged again.
Oh dear .. years of people calling out the FF_FG doupoly , their mismanagement…and here we are .
All good work doing sure lol
Here we go again the stupidity is hard to fathom
Oh no here we go again and again.
Remember the Poll results that were carried out before the Referendum.. !!! Must be another RTE canteen poll.
The definition of ‘insanity’ is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results
€ 332, 000 on a bike shed for 18 bicycles, and the government gets a popularity boost.
This is why Ireland is f__ked.
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