Arne Ruhnau Facebook Readies IPO Filing | Arne Ruhnau News

Morgan Stanley Seen Leading Deal Valuing Giant at $75 Billion to $100 Billion

Facebook Inc. could file papers for its initial public offering as early as this coming week, people familiar with the matter said, as anticipation mounts for what is likely to be one of the biggest debuts for a U.S. company.

The deal, seen as defining moment for the latest Web investing boom, could raise as much as $10 billion and value the social network between $75 billion and $100 billion, said people familiar with the matter. A valuation of $75 billion would be below earlier expectations.

The website, which in less than eight years has attracted more than 800 million members, has changed the way people across the globe communicate, from organizing political protests to sharing baby pictures.

The Internet giant is close to picking Morgan Stanley to lead the deal, these people said. Wall Street banks, many of them struggling amid a crimp in trading profits, have been jostling for a leading role in the deal, which could yield them tens of millions of dollars in banker fees, potential new business and bragging rights.

A nod for Morgan Stanley would mark a disappointment for rival Goldman Sachs GroupInc., which a year ago was viewed as having an edge to lead the deal. One person familiar with the matter said that while Morgan Stanley would likely land the coveted “lead-left” spot on an IPO financial filing, Goldman would also likely play a significant role.

Spokespeople for Facebook, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

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Arne Ruhnau Facebook to file $5 billion IPO Wednesday: IFR

Facebook is expected to submit paperwork to regulators on Wednesday morning for a $5 billion initial public offering and has selected Morgan Stanley and four other bookrunners to handle the mega-IPO, sources close to the deal told IFR.

The company founded by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 picked Morgan Stanley to take the coveted "lead left" role in what is expected to be the largest IPO ever to emerge from Silicon Valley.

The $5 billion is a preliminary target and could be ramped up in coming months in response to investor demand, IFR added.

The other four bookrunners chosen were Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and JP Morgan, although the underwriting syndicate could be expanded later, IFR cited the sources as saying.

Facebook declined to comment on the report by IFR, a unit of Thomson Reuters. "Lead left" refers to where the top underwriter's name will appear on the IPO prospectus.

The preliminary IPO filing sets the stage for a May market of the world's largest social network, IFR reported, a coming-out party that will dwarf almost any before that, including Google Inc's $2 billion IPO.

IPO VETERAN CLINCHES DEAL

Morgan Stanley's experience in arranging major Internet IPOs - including those of Groupon and Zynga - helped it clinch a pivotal role after an unusually secretive selection process, IFR reported.

Final pricing would not be set for several months, during which the size of the IPO could be increased should investor demand warrant it, IFR added.

The prospective IPO - expected to be one of the largest U.S. market debuts in history - has whipped up a frenzy of investor and media speculation this month, buoying shares in social media peers from RenRen to LinkedIn and igniting fierce competition on Wall Street.

The IPO - a prized trophy for any investment bank - likely set a new standard for how low its arrangers are willing to go on advisory fees to win big business, analysts say.

Silicon Valley start-ups from Zynga and LinkedIn to Groupon and Pandora Media Inc have since last year begun testing investor appetite for a new wave of dotcoms, with mixed results.

Investors last year had warned of a second dotcom bubble inflating, after LinkedIn doubled on its debut; but the so-called over-enthusiasm has waned in recent months.

The last dotcom player to debut, Zynga, closed 5 percent below its IPO price during its first trading day in December.

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With Florida victory, Romney is the man to beat

Mitt Romney's victory in Florida's Republican presidential primary has made him the man to beat in the race for the party's nomination to challenge President Barack Obama, and February may prove fruitful for him as the race shifts on Wednesday to Nevada.

After pounding his nearest rival Newt Gingrich with negative advertisements, Romney rolled to an impressive triumph on Tuesday night in Florida, winning 46 percent of the vote to Gingrich's 32 percent in a key battleground state.

The next contest in the state-by-state battle for the Republican nomination to face Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 U.S. election is in Nevada, which holds caucuses on Saturday. That is followed next Tuesday by caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota and a primary in Missouri.

Gingrich and Romney will be in Nevada on Wednesday.

The well-organized and well-financed Romney has now won two of the first four contests, also capturing New Hampshire while coming in second in Iowa and South Carolina.

Romney's win in Florida got his campaign back on track after the staggering loss to Gingrich in South Carolina 10 days earlier. But with Gingrich vowing to fight on for months, the race remains far from over.

This means there is the potential for a lengthy, divisive battle that could damage the party's chances of denying Obama re-election in November.

Romney may face questions about the negative tactics he has used to dispatch Gingrich. Florida media were awash with millions of dollars in ads that focused on Gingrich's ethical troubles while speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1990s and questioning his conservative bonafides.

Gingrich's ads were equally negative against Romney. He just got outspent.

Romney hopes the seven state contests in February will cement his status as the runaway front-runner and make Gingrich a non-factor.

In his victory speech in Tampa on Tuesday, Romney held his fire against his Republican rivals. Instead, he took aim at Obama. Romney stressed his belief that he can turn around the U.S. economy based on his experience as a private equity executive and former governor of Massachusetts.

"President Obama wants to grow government and continue to amass trillion dollar deficits. I will not just slow the growth of government, I will cut it. I will not just freeze government's share of the total economy, I will reduce it. And without raising taxes, I will finally balance the budget," he said.

A bruised and battered Gingrich aims to ride out February and hang on until March when the Southern states he wants to win come into play. He needs to raise money and build a better organization. If the Florida outcome is any indication, he faces a hard fight ahead.

"It is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader, Newt Gingrich, and the Massachusetts moderate," Gingrich said on Tuesday night.

Former U.S. senator Rick Santorum, who won in Iowa, came in third in Florida, followed by U.S. congressman Ron Paul.

Private sector adds 170,000 jobs in January: ADP

The pace of job creation by private employers slowed in January after a sharp gain the month before, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

The private sector added 170,000 jobs last month, the ADP National Employment Report showed, shy of economists' expectations for a gain of 185,000 jobs.

December's private payrolls were revised down to an increase of 292,000 from the previously reported 325,000.

The report is jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.

Der Traum vom Anti-S&P

Europä hätte so gerne eine eigene Ratingagentur. Schließlich war in der letzten Zeit der Ärger über die US-Branchenriesen sehr groß. Doch auch Jahre nach Lehman gibt es immer noch keinen Durchbruch.

Der Deutschen Umweltstiftung ist einiges zuzutrauen. Immerhin verantwortet sie das Projekt "Ein Baum für jedes Kind". Zudem verleiht sie seit 1989 in unregelmäßigen Abständen den Buchpreis "Lesen für die Umwelt". Aber genügen solche Referenzen, um Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody's und Fitch anzugreifen?

Man wird es bald erfahren. Kürzlich hat die Stiftung nämlich die Initiative Enra ins Leben gerufen. Das Kürzel steht für Europäische Nachhaltige Ratingagentur. Mehrere deutsche Banken haben bereits ihre Unterstützung signalisiert.

Die Umweltstiftung als Ratingagentur - nein, das ist kein Scherz. Stattdessen mutet das Unterfangen sogar zeitgemäß an. Schließlich gehört es neuerdings zum guten Ton, eine eigene Bonitätsfirma zu gründen. Die Liste der Akteure, die sich derzeit unter dem Label "Europäische Ratingagentur" herumreichen lassen, ist verblüffend lang. Sie reicht vom Beratungsunternehmen Roland Berger über die Bertelsmann-Stiftung bis hin zur sogenannten Eacra-Plattform. Und fast monatlich kommt eine neue Initiative hinzu.

RWE

RWE forciert Verkauf von Tochterfirmen

Exklusiv Die Energievertriebstochter Süwag steht kurz vor der Abspaltung. Ein kommunales Konsortium hat auf das Unternehmen geboten. Der Gesamtwert des zu verkaufenden Aktienpakets liegt bei mindestens 800 Mio. Euro. von Michael GassmannDüsseldorf

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RWE treibt sein Milliardenprogramm für Beteiligungsverkäufe voran. Die Trennung von der Frankfurter Vertriebstochter Süwag geht nächste Woche in die Endrunde. Zur Wochenmitte will RWE einem kommunalen Konsortium, das an der Übernahme des RWE-Pakets von 77,6 Prozent der Süwag-Anteile interessiert ist, seine Preisvorstellungen präsentieren. Das bestätigten mehrere Kommunalpolitiker. Der Gesamtpreis für das Aktienpaket liegt nach Schätzungen bei mindestens 800 Mio. Euro. Eine RWE-Sprecherin bestätigte lediglich: "Wir haben den Verkaufsprozess angestoßen." Zu Zeitplan und Preis wollte sie nichts sagen.

Der zweitgrößte deutsche Energiekonzern will bis Ende 2013 Beteiligungen im Wert von 11 Mrd. Euro losschlagen. Vorstandschef Jürgen Großmann hatte das Erlösziel von ursprünglich 8 Mrd. Euro kürzlich angehoben, um der Gefahr einer Herabstufung durch die Ratingagenturen zu entgehen.

 RWE-Chef Jürgen Großmann

Um Süwag bewerben sich neun Städte und Kommunalunternehmen, die sich Anfang dieser Woche zu einem Bieterkonsortium zusammengeschlossen hatten. "Wir werden jetzt mit RWE in Verhandlungen eintreten", sagte ein Sprecher des Frankfurter Stadtkämmerers Uwe Becker.

Die kommunale Gruppe besteht aus Süwag-Minderheitsaktionären, die deshalb über ein Vorkaufsrecht verfügen. Frankfurt ist derzeit mit knapp sechs Prozent der Anteile zweitgrößter Süwag-Aktionär nach RWE. Allerdings beteiligt sich nur knapp die Hälfte der 16 kommunalen Minderheitsaktionäre an dem Vorstoß. "Wir hoffen, dass weitere dazukommen", sagte Gerhard Maxeiner, Bürgermeister der ebenfalls an dem Konsortium beteiligten Stadt Diez.

Für Süwag mit seinen 750.000 Strom- und Gaskunden interessierten sich nach Brancheninformationen auch ausländische Unternehmen wie Frankreichs EDF und Gazprom aus Russland. Wahrscheinlicher sei aber, dass die Kommunen zum Zuge kommen. Andernfalls könnten sie RWE künftig bei der Vergabe von Konzessionen für Strom- und Gasnetze ausgrenzen. "Das ist eine starke Waffe", hieß es. Nach dem Verkauf des Essener Stromerzeugers Steag und der Stadtwerke-Holding Thüga wäre der Süwag-Verkauf einer der größten Schritte zur Rekommunalisierung.