Conservative estimates based on Facebook beginning trade at $30 per share have the social networking pioneer valued at $75 billion, but recent negotiations with Instagram at the time of acquisition suggest that the company could end up being valued much higher. The deal with Instagram payed out about 30% in cash and the rest was covered in stock.
The value of the stock was based on an estimated $30 per share, but many in the financial sector believe Facebook could selling for as much as $40 per share. This would be a nice bonus for those who were paid in stock, because it means Facebook could be valued at around $104 billion.
What’s more interesting is that Facebook has been traded at the $104 million valuation on secondary markets for quite some time, and that was before Instagram was even added to the equation. According to CNBC, the Facebook IPO should launch by May 14th, but we’ll have to see what the future hold. It sure does seem like a lot of time has passed since the announcement of the offering several months ago.
Either way, we should see trading by the end of May and you can bet we’ll be watching trade prices on that day. Check back here for regular updates on the Facebook IPO.