Facebook Inc. could file a prospectus for an initial public offering as early as this coming Wednesday and is close to picking Morgan Stanley (MS) as the lead underwriter for the IPO, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing anonymous sources within the company.
The report says that Goldman Sachs (GS) is also expected to play a key role in the deal. Spokespeople for both banks declined to comment. Facebook also would not comment.
The world’s largest internet social-networking company, which has more than 800 million members and whose impending IPO is expected to raise $10 billion, is currently looking at a total valuation of $75 billion to $100 billion, the Journal said. Facebook’s 2011 revs came in around $4 billion, according to reports.
Founded in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s offering could be one of the biggest ever by a tech company, dwarfing Infineon’s $5.9 billion initial public offering in 2000, and Google’s (GOOG) $1.7 billion in 2004.
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