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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Facebook 2012 IPO?


Reuters reported today that Facebook can possibly IPO next year, raising $10B and thus valuing the company at over $100B. For those unfamiliar with the Facebook story, there was a Hollywood movie, The Social Network, last year.




How can you play this as an investment? You can't! Unless you are a very large (or important) high net worth individual (HNWI) at Goldman Sachs ex-US according to an earlier Reuters report. It was rumored that Goldman offered HNWIs the chance to invest a minimum of $2M with a lockup until 2013. Goldman was estimated to raise $1.5B in the private placement. 



Although it has come to light there is an alternative market trading pre-IPO private shares. Sharepost is reportedly trading private shares of Facebook, Twitter, and Zynga to name a few. In order to qualify, the website states that you must be an accredited investorThe current Sharepost Facebook implied valuation is $73B. Without data it's difficult to determine the proper valuation. However if the investor were able to get in at $73B and it IPO'd at $100B, the gains will be sizable. 


For all the remaining retail investors, you will have to wait until the IPO hits the secondary market. 







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