Facebook unveils $5bn flotation plans

Published:  2 Feb at 12 PM

Facebook, the largest social networking site in the world, has announced its stock market flotation plans.

Facebook said that it aimed to raise $5bn (£3.16bn), roughly half the amount a number of analysts had predicted. However, the initial public offering (IPO) is still likely to be the largest sale of shares by an online company, reports the BBC.

Facebook, created eight years ago by students from Harvard University, now boasts 845 million users and last year made a $1bn profit. The social networking site filed its plan to float with the Securities and Exchange Commission following the closure of the US stock markets.

The documents revealed information about the company which had previously only been subject to speculation. This included the news that the site’s net income last year increased by 65 per cent to $1bn, off $3.71bn in revenues. It was also disclosed that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, owns 28.4 per cent of the social network, and that there are currently 443 million daily users and 845 million monthly users.

Mr Zuckerberg posted a note which said that Facebook was not initially launched to be a company, but to accomplish the social mission of opening up and connecting the world. It went on to state that they want all of the site’s investors to understand the importance of the mission, how they make decisions and why they do what they do.

The $5bn expected to be raised will be the highest for an internet IPO since Google raised $1.67bn in 2004.