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Facebook Delays IPO

By Brent Lang at TheWrap

Wed Sep 14, 2011 3:41pm EDT

The chilly IPO market just iced over. 

The hotly anticipated public debut of Facebook has been pushed back until late 2012, the Financial Times reports citing "people familiar with the company." 

The social media giant had been expected to go public in April of 2012, with analysts speculating that it could be the biggest IPO in history. 

The initial public offering is expected to be pegged to an $100 billion valuation, probably setting a new high watermark for technology companies. 

Also read: IPO Blues: Tech's Hot Summer Cools Off

A spokesperson for Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Facebook's Silicon Valley brethren such as Zynga and Groupon have delayed their IPOs in the wake of the recent market downturn. 

It was a stunning reversal to what had been a sizzling environment for tech companies looking to trade publicly. With valuations for web and social media companies climbing into the tens of billions, May was reportedly the busiest month for tech IPOs since 2000.

Also read: It's Raining IPOs: Zynga Files for $1 Billion

After the debt ceiling crisis and economic headaches in Greece brought the stock market to its knees, the appetite for going public vanished. Last month was the slowest for IPOs since July 2009. 

However, in Facebook's case, the weakened economy is apparently not the reason for the date shift. The Times reports that CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes the company is well-capitalized and wants to keep the focus on product development.

Last winter, Facebook raised $1.5 billion from Goldman Sachs and other investors.

Related Articles:  IPO Blues: Tech's Hot Summer Cools Off It's Raining IPOs: Zynga Files for $1 Billion Groupon's Shaky Metrics Delay IPO
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Comments (2)
Guitar wrote:
Isn’t it just because FB is nowhere near worth $100B and that people are starting to understand that? Where is the profit? I hope Google+ launches before their IPO and screws it all up! It’s a scam, they cannot make a profit! A bunch of rich people will make a ton of money off it and all of a sudden all of our personal info will be their treasure!

Sep 14, 2011 6:15pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
WhartonMBAAlum wrote:
I don’t believe Facebook’s IPO delay has anything to do with “market conditions”, but to a slowdown in its own business. The novelty’s worn off, usage and traffic has come to a standstill, and now Facebook has well capitalized competition in Google+:
http://www.privco.com/private-company/facebook-inc

As well put as anything I’ve read. We will see what happens, but Facebook can’t pretend they want their employees “focused on product development”. Where was this concern when they were raising all that money and cashing out their stock?

Sep 14, 2011 11:02pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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