Facebook said in a regulatory filing yesterday that it has raised the price range for its IPO to USD 34 to USD 38 a share, from USD 28 to USD 35 a piece earlier. The move signals a strong demand from investors.
Facebook, which will sell 337.41 million shares, is expected to raise about USD 12.8 billion at the top range of the stock price through the IPO.
With the new price range, Facebook would be valued at USD 93 billion to USD 104 billion.
It is expected to go public on May 18 and the stock will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol 'FB'.
It's much anticipated IPO is expected to shadow that of other tech giants like Google which had raised USD 1.9 billion and valued the company at about USD 23 billion when it went public in 2004.
Facebook's 27-year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning to sell 30.2 million shares. He plans to use the proceeds to cover taxes. Zuckerberg would retain voting control of 58.8 per cent of the company after the IPO.
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Other stockholders who would be offering shares include the social network's early investors such as James Breyer of the venture capital firm Accel Partners, who's offering 38.2 million shares. Goldman Sachs is unloading 20 per cent of its stake, or 13.2 million shares.
With 901 million users as of March 31, 2012, Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world and a magnet for advertisers.