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Facebook May File For IPO February 1, WSJ Reports

WSJ: Facebook May File For IPO Within Days
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(Reuters) - Facebook plans to file documents as early as Wednesday for a highly anticipated IPO that will value the world's largest social network at between $75 billion and $100 billion, the Wall Street Journal cited unidentified sources as saying on Friday.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are expected to lead what would be one of the largest initial public offerings in U.S. history, the Journal cited its sources as saying.

Facebook was not immediately available for comment.

The impending IPO -- expected to raise $10 billion -- is a prized trophy for investment banks, setting up a fierce competition on Wall Street, particularly between the presumed front-runners Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic and Edwin Chan; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Check out some of the biggest tech IPOs from the past year.

2011 Tech IPOs
Zynga: $1 Billion(01 of09)
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Social gaming company Zynga raised $1 billion in its IPO in December, 2011, the biggest web-related IPO since Google, according to the Associated Press.Zynga had a valuation of $7 billion before it began trading on the Nasdaq on December 16. (credit:AP)
RenRen: $743 Million(02 of09)
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RenRen, the Chinese social networking site, raised $743 million in its IPO in May 2011, according to Reuters.At the end of its first day of trading, the company had a market value of $7.4 billion.As of December 16, 2011, RenRen's market capitalization stood at $1.34 billion. (credit:Flickr:Cormac Heron)
Groupon: $700 Million(03 of09)
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The daily deals site raised $700 million in its IPO in November 2011, valuing the company at nearly $13 billion.As of December 16, 2011, Groupon's value was $14.4 billion. (credit:AP)
LinkedIn: $352 Million(04 of09)
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LinkedIn, the professional social network, raised $352 million in its IPO in May 2011. According to Reuters, the company was worth $9 billon after its first day of trading on the public market. As of December 16, 2011, LinkedIn's value had dropped to $6.35 billion. (credit:AP)
Pandora: $234 Million(05 of09)
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Internet radio site Pandora raised $234 million when it went public in June 2011, valuing the company at $2.56 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.As of December 16, 2011, the company had a market value of $1.71 billion. (credit:Getty)
HomeAway: $216 Million(06 of09)
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HomeAway.com, a vacation home rental site, raised $216 million in its IPO in June 2011, according to MarketWatch.In its first day of trading, reports TechCrunch, the company had reached a valuation as high as $3 billion.As of December 2011, HomeAway had a market cap of $1.89 billion. (credit:Flickr:touristic32)
Demand Media: $151 Million(07 of09)
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Demand Media, a web content company, or "content farm," raised $151 million in January 2011. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company was worth a whopping $1.78 billion after its first day on the New York Stock Exchange.As of December 16, 2011, the company's market cap had fallen to $593 million.In the photo above, Richard Rosenblatt, Chairman and CEO of Demand Media, joins Tyra Banks at the New York Stock Exchange on March 15, 2011. (credit:Getty)
Angie's List: $130 Million(08 of09)
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Angie's List, a site where members can review doctors, contractors and more, raised $130 million in its November 2011 IPO, according to VentureBeat.The AP notes that at the end of the first day of trading, the company was valued at $904 million. As of December 16, 2011, the site had a market cap of $886 million. (credit:MediaWiki)
Zillow: $69 Million(09 of09)
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According to TechCrunch, the real estate website Zillow raised about $69 million in its July 2011 IPO. The value of the company rose to as high as $1.6 billion on the first day of trading but dropped to $950 million at market close.As of December 16, 2011, Zillow's market valuation was $657 million. (credit:MediaWiki)

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