Facebook Shareholders Still Cashing Out Ahead of IPO
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Even amid reports Facebook may file its IPO by year end and go public between April to June of 2012, shareholders of the social media powerhouse aren't waiting around. They want out - now!
According to a notice from SharePost, a service which facilitates the buying and selling of private company stock, a Facebook shareholder committed to the sale of 100,000 shares of the Class B Common Stock of Facebook, Inc. The reserve price is $30 for the auction.
The timing of the sale is strange, given the IPO news. Does the seller believe the shares are worth more now via a pre-IPO exchange, versus waiting a couple months and selling after the shares come public?
Facebook shares have been the most active at pre-IPO sites like SharePost and SecondMarket. It could be argued Facebook has made these websites viable in the first place.
The liquidity option these websites have provided for shareholders may have in effect limited any upside in valuation that would normally be seen in an IPO.
Recent numbers at SharePost indicate a $73 billion valuation for Facebook. This is a discount to the $100 billion valuation being discussed in the WSJ. This valuation disconnect could be partly related to expected dilution in the IPO. The Journal said Facebook would probably look to raise about $10 billion in the IPO.
While valuation will continue to be speculated upon until we see the hard numbers from Facebook in the IPO filing, it is clear some current shareholders don't want to stick around to find out. They are happy to take the money being offered today.
According to a notice from SharePost, a service which facilitates the buying and selling of private company stock, a Facebook shareholder committed to the sale of 100,000 shares of the Class B Common Stock of Facebook, Inc. The reserve price is $30 for the auction.
The timing of the sale is strange, given the IPO news. Does the seller believe the shares are worth more now via a pre-IPO exchange, versus waiting a couple months and selling after the shares come public?
Facebook shares have been the most active at pre-IPO sites like SharePost and SecondMarket. It could be argued Facebook has made these websites viable in the first place.
The liquidity option these websites have provided for shareholders may have in effect limited any upside in valuation that would normally be seen in an IPO.
Recent numbers at SharePost indicate a $73 billion valuation for Facebook. This is a discount to the $100 billion valuation being discussed in the WSJ. This valuation disconnect could be partly related to expected dilution in the IPO. The Journal said Facebook would probably look to raise about $10 billion in the IPO.
While valuation will continue to be speculated upon until we see the hard numbers from Facebook in the IPO filing, it is clear some current shareholders don't want to stick around to find out. They are happy to take the money being offered today.
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