FACEBOOK WILL BE pricing its shares at $38 when it goes public tomorrow – at the very top of a price range that had already been increased.
The move means the social network will raise around $16billion in the biggest ever internet IPO – selling 421.2million shares in total.
The shares are expected to jump in value immediately when they begin trading on the Nasdaq tomorrow. One analyst told Reuters they could rise by as much as 50 per cent over the day, and anything less would be “underwhelming”.
However, others have been more restrained. Investment manager Walter Todd told Bloomberg he expected the first day to be a “slam dunk”, but said the shares could face difficulties over the coming months as profits at Facebook slide.
The IPO dwarfs previous technology offerings. According to Mike Isaac at tech blog AllThingsD, Google raised $1.67billion in August 2004, while Farmville creators Zynga made $1billion last year.
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