Facebook IPO Date Reportedly Set For May 18

SAN FRANCISCO, May 1 (Reuters) - The roadshow for Facebook Inc's initial public offering is scheduled to start on Monday, meaning the company's shares should begin trading on May 18, a source familiar with the process said on Tuesday.

Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has mostly operated in the background during Facebook's closely watched journey to public markets, will be involved in the roadshow, another source said.

Facebook declined to comment.

Many on Wall Street had not expected Zuckerberg to turn up on the roadshow after he skipped a March analysts' meeting, ceding the stage to COO Sheryl Sandberg and CFO David Ebersman. His March absence irked some investors who were indignant that the CEO, while wielding near-absolute control over the eight-year-old firm, had snubbed Wall Street.

IPO roadshows, in which company management presents its strategy to prospective investors, typically last one to two weeks. If the roadshow goes particularly well, shares sometimes start trading a few days earlier.

Facebook is set to raise at least $5 billion in what will likely be the largest Silicon Valley IPO ever. The world's largest social network continues to command keen investor interest although disappointing first-quarter results raised questions about whether it can sustain breakneck growth for the longer term.

A source familiar with the offering said last week that a recent acquisition spurt by the company could have added about a week to the IPO timetable as regulators signed off on the deals.

This review is close to completion, however, allowing the company to go ahead with the roadshow on May 7, according to the source who spoke with Reuters on Tuesday. The sources did not want to be identified because they are not authorized to speak about the company's IPO.

"I have not seen as broad-based interest in an IPO since Google. Investor demand is immense," said Scott Sweet of research firm IPO Boutique. "I expect a roadshow that will rival all roadshows where investors will be turned away at the door."

The news on the road show was first reported by tech blog AllThingsDigital and the Wall Street Journal.

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Comments

[livingdangerously]

05:40 PM on 05/15/2012

I wouldn't trust Zuck with my money. Pass.

[bps163]

11:48 AM on 05/15/2012

OK let's see a show of hands of who is going to invest in the IPO of Facebook. It's out of my price range

[rudy in la]

01:07 PM on 05/03/2012

Now, finally, I have something to live for!

[PhantomShadow]

11:56 AM on 05/03/2012

Big deal. The average investor won't get anywhere near shares in the IPO.

[dducenaquarter]

10:52 AM on 05/03/2012

i always edit profile before deleting account on any social networking website, change name, location, age and interest. and NEVER let facebook find friends by giving your e-mail password,LOL!! wonder how many people made that move..

[SidTheScienceKid]

02:20 AM on 05/03/2012

The issue with the IPO is not that smart investors like the readers here would purchase into this house of cards, but that institutional and contrarian money fund investing would affect us all... just like the financial scams of Enron, *com, and others.
I am NOT buying the stock; I am purging any mutual funds that invest on it.

[Fred Gordon III]

10:07 PM on 05/02/2012

ZUCKERSUCK FACEBOOK SUCKS WITH THIS NEW TIME LINE JUST LEAVE BAD ENOUGH ALONE

[mosuro]

09:25 AM on 05/03/2012

i think fb timeline is better than the traditional homepage. i think you have an option to using that setup or not. if fb starts charging for their service after going public then its adios fb.

[hman570]

07:11 PM on 05/02/2012

All the insiders have there money ready to buy and make bigger bucks in a few weeks. I think that is how it works. The rich get richer and the poor stay the same.

[mosuro]

09:26 AM on 05/03/2012

its not what you but who you know

[hman570]

09:36 AM on 05/03/2012

And I am sure that the fix is in.

[Ayndie]

03:04 PM on 05/02/2012

Oh lawd....

[flksbutton]

12:00 PM on 05/02/2012

I've got 100 shares of General Motors stock I'll sell to whoever wants it.....CHEAP, too!!!

[windycitygirl444]

11:49 AM on 05/02/2012

I deleted my Facebook last week. I can only imagine the privacy problems to come - it's been bad enough privately owned.

....and from the story "His March absence irked some investors who were indignant that the CEO, while wielding near-absolute control over the eight-year-old firm, had snubbed Wall Street."

LOL snubbed Wall Street ... now that's actually kinda funny!

[JohnHopwood2]

01:33 PM on 05/02/2012

I deleted my account 2 years ago and they sent me emails asking me to tell them why I deleted my account and I wrote back saying I just don't like facebook and that I find them creepy. They said we will keep your account information if you ever wanted to come back it would be there. I only have twitter and I use it for updated info on subjects I like and very rarely tweet as I only have 2 friends on it. These companies collect to much data from you.

[windycitygirl444]

01:41 PM on 05/02/2012

Yes, they sure do collect too much data! And it's not being paranoid to feel that way, as some people say. I deleted mine when I noticed the ads on my page were things I had googled or "liked". And most people don't realize it doesn't end when you sign off. All those little stored cookies remain and track your activity online. I got the emails too and replied the same way you did.

[womanwithabrains]

02:11 PM on 05/02/2012

Thanks to a "network" site that is called Facebook I am now divorced.

Facebook is a network site however; the members do not realize that first off all network sites record and track your every movement.

I too deleted my account once I had keystroking put on my network at home to oversee what my kids were doing online but instead I found a surprise when my ex created an account and started to mess around with ladies and probably men too. I do not care what Facebook really is all about but I do care that Facebook wrecked my life.

If only all account holders can see the real meaning of Facebook as a network without any positivity but instead a network for marriages and relationships to end - and I was the one that kicked the ex to the curb - my last words to Facebook is "thanks for nothing".

[blodisnut]

08:59 PM on 05/02/2012

How do you delete facebook? I tried all night last night, and could not find a specific place to delete. I tried to change my password to gibberish, but I couldnt do this without reentering the password..

Facebook is like prison....

You sit around, waste time, have a profile picture, write on walls, and get poked by people you dont know.....

I freaking hate facebook, yet am always logging in....

[windycitygirl444]

01:14 PM on 05/03/2012

I had a hard time too. Go to your account info and delete my account is down toward the bottom. They will ask you why and try to keep you and you will get emails. I really hated it.

[ladybugsfavgrand]

11:20 AM on 05/02/2012

I have no doubt the government will buy all the stocks so they can use FB as a Obama communist propaganda site

[windycitygirl444]

11:51 AM on 05/02/2012

OMG .... are you serious???

[flksbutton]

12:02 PM on 05/02/2012

Unfortuneately, she/he is!!!! Like my Dad used to say, "There's one born every minute and most of them live."

[Rubyfoo]

09:55 AM on 05/02/2012

The big day when 1%ers can get the first crack at FaceBook stock at low share prices, while the great unwashed get to come after the price has been driven up to unsustainable levels. Hooray.

[ladybugsfavgrand]

11:21 AM on 05/02/2012

Oh stop whining and get to work

[windycitygirl444]

11:54 AM on 05/02/2012

WOW ... you're just a little ray of sunshine. How do you know whether he/she works or not??

And ...he/she's... right!

[Rubyfoo]

01:47 PM on 05/03/2012

I'm 70 years old, I still work, and I know the Silicon Valley venture capital and investment banking communities intimately through long experience.

[Bob716]

04:37 PM on 05/02/2012

My friend buying into that kind of stock can be a high risk venture. You buy X number of shares at $10 per share......& a short time later it's now $5 per share. Guess what??? You've lost half of your investment which you may or may not make back for sometime. So it really has nothing to do with class warfare but knowing when to invest & when to get out.

[yahooserious]

09:53 AM on 05/02/2012

If I were investing in this company I'd get in, get out as soon as a very nice profit is available. My grandkids no longer use facebook. Very few teens do now and they're the adults of the future. My take is that FB will go the way of the Blackberry and several others. I'm sure I'm wrong, but it's how I see it.

[Hootville]

10:18 AM on 05/02/2012

All indications are that you are correct. Buying into that stock is high risk.

[cheetah slims]

09:45 AM on 05/02/2012

george orwell thought the state would try to end our private lives and exploit our rights. HA! We are willingly doing it to ourselves and to one another.