Facebook valued at $5bn as it seeks fresh funds

by Staff, Brand Republic 30-Apr-09, 14:30

NEW YORK - The value of Facebook has fallen by as much as two thirds after it was reported to be in talks with private equity companies about selling a stake that would give it a value of between $5bn and $6bn, drastically down on the $15bn it was worth when Microsoft invested in 2007.

The New York Post reports that Facebook is only willing to sell more shares in the company if it gets a valuation in the region of $5bn to $6bn.

However, the newspaper, which is part News Corporation, owner of MySpace, says that offers only value Facebook at around $2bn to $3bn.

The newspaper claims that sources said Facebook is in talks with potential investors including private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and General Atlantic.

In October 2007, Microsoft bought a 1.6% stake in Facebook for $240m. It was at the height of the website's growth.

The site remains hugely popular, but with the company in private hands its revenue and profitability remain unknown.

Comments

John Gallen - 01/05/2009

overrated

Louis Sugiyama - 01/05/2009

Facebook is an interesting one for advertising. The Ads ON Facebook are in general poor and overlooked, however the power of Facebook for referrals between users is something that I think many brands are missing. My friends and I regularly share links to adverts we think are worth a mention. I would bet the majority of links to the Cadbury's gorilla and the T-Mobile Dance ads were via Facebook status updates and shared profile links. A bit like how I have just done this with the latest Bravia Motionflow 200Hz ad on my FB to my blog... \(http://thesugi.blogspot.com)