Graphic: A look at recent online technology initial public offerings
The Facebook initial public offering fiasco gets the Taiwanese animation treatment.
Individual investors were left guessing for more than two hours on Friday about whether their buy and sell orders for newly issued Facebook shares had been actually executed.
The Nasdaq Stock Market, where Facebook is listed, had problems sending electronic messages back to the brokerages that handle orders from individual, or “retail,” investors, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.
Because the electronic acknowledgements didn’t come back from the exchange, the brokers were unable to tell their clients that trades had been executed. Such acknowledgements usually occur almost instantaneously.
“Nasdaq’s delay in passing back executions is causing a lot of heartburn on the Street,” said one source. “We had to tell clients we didn’t get the print back,” said another.
READ MORE: Facebook investors left guessing after Nasdaq glitch
Facebook Inc shares fizzled on their first day of trade on the Nasdaq, erasing early gains of as much as 18 percent to trade close to their initial public offering price.
The stock opened 11 percent higher and rose to $45 before rapidly heading south in frenzied trade, touching its initial public offering price of $38. The No. 1 online social network raised as much as $18.4 billion in one of the biggest initial public offerings in U.S. history.
After a delay in the opening print that drove up anxiety levels among traders and onlookers outside the Nasdaq, the company’s closely watched stock began trading at $42.05, compared with an IPO price of $38.
To rapturous applause from employees, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg — flanked by Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Nasdaq Chief Executive Robert Greifeld — rang the bell to kick off trading at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time.
The 28-year-old billionaire founder hugged and high-fived Sandberg and other employees in celebration after he pressed the remote button.
READ MORE: Facebook fizzles in debut, shares skirt IPO price
Angry Birds maker Rovio Entertainment said sales jumped tenfold to $100 million last year as gamers flocked to download its titles, adding business was now strong enough for a stock market listing.
The Finnish startup making Angry Birds games — in which players use a slingshot to attack pigs who steal the birds’ eggs — has been valued by analysts at up to $9 billion, just short of that of struggling world No.2 phonemaker Nokia.
Rovio said on Monday its finances were good enough for a listing after revealing a highly profitable 2011 in its first public disclosure of business results and forecast a bumper year ahead.
Rovio, originally founded in 2003, became a global phenomenon after it launched Angry Birds for Apple’s iPhone in late 2009.
READ MORE: Angry Birds maker eyes IPO golden egg
For those of you looking to buy some stock in Facebook, mark your calendars for May 17.
For those who don’t give a Zuck, that just leaves more to invest for the rest of us.
Exclusive: Facebook seeks bigger line of credit, sources say
Facebook Inc plans to increase its $2.5 billion credit line to help cover a major tax hit when employee stock awards vest shortly after it goes public, according to two sources familiar with the company’s plans.
The world’s largest social media network, which boosted its borrowing capacity by two-thirds just six months ago, is taking advantage of its strong position to get more financing for its phenomenal growth, the sources said.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about such plans.
A spokesman for Facebook declined to comment.
Read more: Facebook seeks bigger line of credit
Empire State Realty Trust, owners of the iconic Empire State Building, filed to sell up to $1 billion of its Class A common stock, giving ordinary investors a chance to own a piece of the skyscraper that has been fought over by billionaires.
The tower, once the world’s tallest, has seen several owners over the decades and had been at the centre of a legal battle among the Malkin family — which controls the company — property tycoon Donald Trump and real estate heiress Leona Helmsley.
The Malkin family bought the property in 2002 but gained total control of the 102-story building only in 2010 after much wrangling.
Read more: Empire State Building owners file for $1 billion IPO
Graphic: Who has the most stake in Facebook.
Analysis: A sobering look at Facebook
Facebook unveiled plans for the biggest ever Internet IPO that could raise as much as $10 billion, but made it clear CEO Mark Zuckerberg will exercise almost complete control over the company, leaving investors with little say.
The Harvard dropout, who launched the social networking phenomenon from his dorm room, will control 56.9 percent of the voting shares in a company expected to be valued at up to $100 billion when it goes public. Facebook says it has 845 million active monthly users.
Read more: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to keep iron grip after IPO
