Facebook reportedly planning record-size IPO

Facebook is considering raising about $10 billion in an initial public offering that would value the world’s largest social-networking site at more than $100 billion, The Washington Post reports, citing “a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.” The company may file for the IPO before the end of the year, the person says, though exact timing for the filing hasn’t been determined. Facebook’s $100 billion valuation would be twice as high as it was in January, when the company announced a $1.5 billion investment from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other backers. Facebook aims to capitalize on strong demand for social- networking IPOs, says Josef Schuster, founder of Chicago-based IPOX Schuster. “It’s obviously a very steep valuation,” says Schuster, whose firm invests in IPOs and oversees about $2.5 billion in assets. “They are realizing their window of opportunity, and they want to do it sooner rather than later.” At $10 billion, the offering would raise more money than any other technology IPO, a sign Facebook expects investors to clamor for a piece of the social-networking company. The amount would dwarf that of the previous record holder, Infineon Technologies AG, which generated $5.23 billion in its 1999 debut. Facebook expects to be required by U.S. regulators to disclose financial results by April 30, 2012, if it doesn’t go public by then, the company said in January.