Facebook is looking at the May 17 date for its initial public offering, TechCrunch reports, citing several source familiar with the matter.
These sources also claim that Facebook will be valued at around $100 billion or $40 a share – close to the current valuation of the company based on secondary market trading.
The date, however, is not set in stone. Federal regulators might want more time to look at paperwork from Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram, which could push the IPO date back.
A change of climate in the market — perhaps due to mounting problems in the Euro-zone — could also be a factor. Net income slid 12 percent to $205 million in the quarter, from $233 million a year earlier at the company, which is aggressively expanding and adding employees.
They are also paying Microsoft $550 million for access to 650 patents, All Things Digital’s Ina Fried reports. because they’re facing a patent lawsuit from Yahoo. It appears that a number of these patents come from the $1 billion in intellectual property that Microsoft purchased from AOL earlier this month. Sources close to the deal said that Microsoft and Facebook wanted to partner on the purchase of the AOL patents all along, but the rules of that auction wouldn’t allow it. As the patent wars heat up, these things are changing hands like hotcakes. Yahoo and AOL are desperate to turn their fortunes around, and patents are the most valuable ammunition they have. Meanwhile, rising titans like Facebook are flush with cash but short on IP. For the nitty gritty on this, Microsoft has issued a press release; read it HERE.
Facebook said in an updated filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday that its advertising business, which accounts for the bulk of its revenue, typically slows down in the first three months of the year. The rapid growth in advertising may have “partially masked” such trends to date, and that seasonal impacts may be more pronounced in the future, it noted.
Revenue, which totaled $1.06 billion in the three months ended March 31, declined 6 percent from the fourth quarter.
Facebook said its total number of monthly active users surpassed 900 million in the first quarter.
Facebook added more than 1,000 employees in the year ended in March, taking its headcount to 3,539.
Facebook’s mobile users also increased, surpassing 500 million mobile users as of April 20.
In the meantime, check out everything we know about the Facebook IPO so far in this handy guide.
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