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This article was published on May 17, 2012

Confirmed: Facebook to go public at $38 per share in the largest Internet IPO ever


Confirmed: Facebook to go public at $38 per share in the largest Internet IPO ever

It has been confirmed: Facebook will go public at $38 per share, valuing the company at $104 billion, with the firm expected to raise $16 billion in its offering. News of the final pricing was broken by CNBC.

As our own Robin Wauters reported earlier, an additional $2.4B could be raised:

There’s also an additional 63,185,042 shares that can be sold by underwriters to cover excess demand. At a $38 price, that could translate to another $2.4 billion billion raised in the initial public offering, though proceeds would go to Facebook shareholders who exercize their right to sell the shares, not Facebook.

Exactly how much will be raised in the offering is somewhat flexible. According to MSNBC:

The offering will raise more than $16 billion for Facebook and selling shareholders, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and ultimately could raise up to $18.4 billion, assuming underwriters exercise their option for “overallotments” to meet strong demand.

Given strong demand, TNW anticipates that the full $18.4 billion will be raised.

Earlier today, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was likely set to debut at $38 per share. It had been rumored that the company might add $1 to its share price, moving it to $39, but it appears that in final talks, the share price remained at the $38 level.

Facebook has, since its first filing, both raised the price of its offering, and the number of shares that it is releasing:

  • Earlier this week, Facebook set a share price range of between $34 and $38, which was itself hiked up from a prior $28-$35 range.
  • After boosting its IPO size by almost 25% just yesterday by offering 84 million extra shares, a total of 421,233,615 shares will be sold in the offering.
  • Facebook’s IPO is set to release around 18% of the company to the public.
This will be the second largest US IPO of all time, behind Visa’s $19.65 billion flotation. Facebook has yet to refile its S-1, but will likely do so in the very near future.
What follows is a copy/paste of the press release from Facebook:
MENLO PARK, Calif., May 17, 2012 — Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 421,233,615 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $38 per share. The shares are expected to begin trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on May 18, 2012, under the symbol “FB.” Facebook is offering 180,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and selling stockholders are offering 241,233,615 shares of Class A common stock. Closing of the offering is expected to occur on May 22, 2012, subject to customary closing conditions.

In addition, Facebook and the selling stockholders have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 63,185,042 additional shares of Class A common stock to cover over-allotments, if any.

Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Goldman, Sachs & Co., BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Allen & Company LLC, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank Securities are serving as book runners for the offering. RBC Capital Markets and Wells Fargo Securities are serving as active co-managers.

The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the prospectus related to the offering may be obtained from: Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10014, Attention: Prospectus Department (Tel: +1 866 718 1649; e-mail: prospectus@morganstanley.com); J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, (Tel: +1 866 803 9204); or Goldman, Sachs & Co., 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, Attention: Prospectus Department (Tel: +1 866 471 2526, e-mail:prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com).

A registration statement related to these securities has been filed with, and declared effective by, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

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