Facebook has now told the world about the value which it think it is worth. Facebook is targeting valuation of $96 billion with this IPO which will be the record debut of any American Company.
Public offering will start on May 18 and it will be interesting to see how Facebook will attract investors. After that Facebook will become the most valuable tech company at the time of an IPO exceeding Google’s $23 billion valuation in 2004.
Facebook and its holders plan to sell about 337.4 million shares at $28 to $35 each, according to a regulatory filing. Facebook is offering 180 million shares, while existing owners such as Accel Partners and Digital Sky Technologies are offering 157.4 million, according to the filing. Zuckerberg is offering 30.2 million of his 533.8 million shares. The majority of his net proceeds will be used to pay taxes associated with exercising a stock option.
Zuckerberg may control about 57 percent of the voting power of Facebook’s outstanding capital stock after the offering, according to the filing. Sandberg, who isn’t selling in the offering, holds 1.9 million shares.
