Business network LinkedIn says in no rush for IPO

By Georgina Prodhan, European Technology Correspondent

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Online business network LinkedIn has opened its first office outside the United States, in London, and the new head of its European operations told Reuters the company was in no rush to float on the stock market.

"It's not on our roadmap. It's not on our radar -- 2009, 2010, it's somewhere on the horizon out in that time," Kevin Eyres said in a telephone interview.

Eyres said LinkedIn was very happy with its current backers, who include Sequoia Capital -- an early investor in Apple, Google and Oracle -- and Greylock.

"It's about momentum and growth. That's what we're focused on right now. A capital event like an IPO would just get in the way," he said.

The fast-growing phenomenon of social networks is attracting intense interest from investors. Teen network MySpace, which now has about 110 million members, was bought by News Corp. in 2005 for $580 million.

Last October, Microsoft bought a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook that valued the platform -- which has half as many users as MySpace -- at $15 billion.

Eyres said Silicon Valley-based LinkedIn expected to double its number of members, currently 18 million, this year, and should grow faster in Europe, where it has more than five million members, mostly in Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands.

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