IPO

Facebook reportedly looking at May 17 for IPO

Facebook is looking at May 17 as the day its much-anticipated IPO will hit the market, according to a TechCrunch report that cites multiple unidentified sources close to the company.

That date, which is still dependent on the Securities and Exchange Commission signing off on the company's S-1, is in line with earlier reports. Facebook executives were reportedly in internal discussions in late November over when to file IPO papers, with a target date for its shares to make their debut on the market between April and June. Sources told AllThingsD that the initial public offering would likely occur during the third week of May. … Read more

Why Instagram just made the lives of Facebook's IPO bankers a lot easier

Besides the 13 lucky engineers working at Instagram, another group lucked out when Mark Zuckerberg decided it would be a good idea to plunk down $1 billion to buy the company: the bankers charged with drumming up interest in Facebook's (presumably monster) IPO.

While the SEC has yet to bless Facebook's S-1, its lead bankers at Morgan Stanley are apparently already out there selling the story to big institutional investors to fill out what's known as the "order book" -- a commitment by mutual funds and other biggies to buy a certain number of shares. … Read more

Five things you need to know about Facebook-Instagram

It's been more than a week since Facebook's blockbuster acquisition of Instagram, and many people are still confused about the deal. It's understandable -- the $1 billion acquisition happened in the span of 48 hours between two CEOs rather than over the course of weeks between two armies of lawyers.

Facebook and Instagram consistently defy convention though, and that's one of many things you need to understand about both companies -- they are anomalies rather than the norm, even in the fast-paced world of tech startups.

I've seen countless reporters and bloggers question the valuation (… Read more

How much is Facebook worth? Instagram deal offers new clue

Plenty of speculation is going on in Silicon Valley about just how much Facebook's purchase of Instagram will end up being worth.

When Facebook made the purchase last week, it said it was paying $1 billion in cash and stock. What it didn't say was how much was cash and how much is stock.

The New York Times, citing people briefed on the terms, is reporting that the deal is is roughly 30 percent cash and 70 percent stock, which would value Facebook at more than $75 billion.

But that's just a starting point, according to the … Read more

Zuckerberg did $1 billion Instagram deal on his own

Facebook shocked the tech community with its $1 billion acquisition of Instagram, but perhaps more shocking is the price the photo-sharing app's CEO originally wanted for his company: $2 billion.

During three days of quiet negotiations, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg halved Kevin Systrom's asking price -- all without involving bankers or his own board of directors, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required). In fact, Zuckerberg, who controls roughly 57 percent of the company's voting rights, had pretty much closed the deal with Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom before even informing the board of … Read more

Mark Zuckerberg must be driving his bankers crazy

It's not supposed to play out this way -- especially for a company on the verge of one of the biggest IPOs in history.

Yet Mark Zuckerberg, 27, and standing atop the Internet world, has been quietly thumbing his multibillion dollar nose at the Wall Street process every step of the way -- and there's not a thing America's investment titans can do about it.

First there was the meeting last month for financial analysts in which Zuckerberg was a surprising no show. Instead, he let his top people -- including Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and … Read more

Solar firm BrightSource cancels IPO

BrightSource, the builder of solar thermal projects, has canceled its initial public offering on the eve of its planned debut, citing "adverse market conditions."

"While we received significant interest from potential investors, the continued market and economic volatility are not optimal conditions for an IPO," BrightSource CEO John Woolard said in a statement this evening (PDF). "As a company, we've consistently made decisions in the best interest of our shareholders, employees and customers, and we will continue to do so. Fortunately, we're in a strong financial position and have the support of world-class … Read more

Facebook buys Instagram...but for what?

There's a lot of speculation today about why Facebook would spend $1 billion to acquire the uber-hip photo-sharing app Instagram. To some, it seems obvious; to others, it's the biggest sign yet of a growing Web bubble. To me, it just raises question after question, and the biggest one is "why." What does Facebook gain from buying Instagram? Let's look at some of the possible reasons, shall we?

Users: Instagram has 30 million users and a potentially huge influx of more, thanks to its recent expansion onto the Android platform. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom says … Read more

Instagram deal: Just the start for a new Facebook

This January at CES in Las Vegas, Facebook's platform partnerships guru Justin Osofsky shared a vision with me of a future in which Facebook is everywhere -- yes, even more than it already is.

But who would have guessed that could mean Facebook would purchase a tunnel directly into other social networks?

That's just one of the many things Facebook bought with its billion-dollar purchase of Instagram today. … Read more