15 January 2008
Social network Facebook is unlikely to go public this year, according to the social network's Chief Executive. Mark Zuckerberg.
In an interview on American CBS news show 60 Minutes, Zuckerberg said that an initial public offering (IPO) could occur at a later date. Zuckerberg comments:
I think what I can announce is that it's highly unlikely that we will go public in 2008,when going public makes sense to do, we'll do that. Maybe that's two years out. Maybe it's three years out.
In October Microsoft paid $240 million in October for a 1.6% stake in Facebook, valuing the website at $15 billion. Facebook’s owners are supposed to have turned away offers to buy the company outright recently, stoking speculation that it is preparing for an eventual IPO.
Bankers are expecting 2008 to present a less welcoming environment for technology-sector IPOs than 2007. A survey of 100 technology bankers by research firm 451 Group shows they expect a median of 25 IPOs this year, down from 60 in 2007.
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