Facebook offer closed to US
GOLDMAN Sachs will exclude US clients from a $1.5bn (£940m) private offering of Facebook shares, citing “intense media attention”.
The investment bank denied the move was heralded by the Securities and Exchange Commission examining the trading of stock in non-listed companies.
However, it is thought that scrutiny of the deal in the US could leave Goldman open to regulatory obstacles. The offering attracted attention as it will circumvent rules requiring firms with more than 500 investors to publish their financial results. The Facebook offer makes use of a “special use investment vehicle” which many individuals can buy into but only counts as a single shareholder.
Clients in the UK, mainland Europe and Asia have been alerted to the offer, which will value the social network at $50bn.