Facebook Getting Ready for Roadshow?

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Facebook Getting Ready for Roadshow?

After the recent rumors of an IPO delay, it looks like Facebook will start its roadshow next week. Whether its plans to go public this month remains to be seen.

The determining factor on timing will come from two sources: when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approves Facebook’s  paperwork, and what Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans are with the company.

According to ZDNet, Facebook could receive regulatory approval for the distribution of its S-1 public offering prospectus to investors as early as this week. This means the company’s road show could then begin next week.

Zuckerberg’s alleged lack of interest in the IPO has contributed to the delays but he is supposed to appear before possible investors and make a presentation at key meetings to help sell the company. This may seem a little surprising but he is the face of the company and his presence will be important. Facebook CFO David Ebersman, COO Sheryl Sandberg and other executives will also be at the roadshow.

Afterwards, the sales process begins. Investors will ask the management team questions, followed by the company’s bankers setting the price of the offering, most likely between $75 billion and $100 billion.

The stock will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol, FB.

Possible dates are circulating for the company to go public with one option as the third week of May including the dates of 14, 15, 16, 17, or 18. Another possibility includes May 17 or May 24, depending how well the Instagram acquisition goes or maybe May 17. With the Memorial Day holiday, the company will try to stay away from that for its IPO, which will then bring in a possible June date.

Zuckerberg Calls for Organ Donor Awareness 

Meanwhile back in the present, Zuckerberg appeared on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” program on Tuesday and made a plea for Organ Donor Awareness.

He encouraged Facebook members to say something if they are donors and explained, “What we hope will happen is that by just having a simple tool, we think that people can really help spread awareness of organ donation and that they want to participate in this to their friends, and we think that can be a big part in helping to solve the crisis.”

Zuckerberg said he was been inspired from conversations with his girlfriend, who is studying to become a pediatrician, and from observations of members’ achievements during crises. He said, “When the tornadoes came through in Missouri a lot people were using Facebook to organize and return items that were lost to people who thought they would never find them.”

He’d like to get this same response on the social network giant and hopes that members can explain how they became organ donors and subsequently advertise this affiliation on their pages. The intent is to inspire others to become organ donors too, reported Reuters.

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