Facebook sells $6.6 million of its stock to investment fund GSV Capital
Facebook Inc. has sold about $6.6 million worth of its shares to the investment fund GSV Capital Corp. as the social networking company is believed to be preparing for an initial public offering next year.
GSV announced that it had purchased 225,000 shares in the world’s most popular social network at an average price of $29.28 a share. The investment makes up about 15% of the publicly traded fund’s total portfolio.
“Facebook is a one-of-a-kind business which has created enormous network effects,” said Michael T. Moe, GSV’s founder and chief executive. “With over 650 million people on its platform, or approximately 1/10 of the world’s population, Facebook has established itself as a next-generation social communications platform.”
GSV, which itself went public this year, is known for investing in privately held companies. On its website, it describes itself as a way for its investors to access “dynamic and rapidly growing” companies ahead of their IPOs.
The investment fund did not say how large its stake in Facebook is, and did not offer clues to the Palo Alto, Calif., social network’s overall valuation.
Facebook officials were unavailable for comment.
A $500-million investment in Facebook by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Digital Sky Technologies in January valued the company at $50 billion, although some say the IPO could push the company’s valuation to as much as $100 billion.
