General Atlantic to purchase 2.5m Facebook shares – report


4 Mar 2011

Investment firm General Atlantic is investing in Facebook, bringing the total value of the social network to US$65bn, according to a report on CNBC.

General Atlantic is purchasing an estimated 2.5m Facebook shares from former Facebook employees, giving the firm a 0.1pc stake in the company, CNBC said.

The deal is pending and still seeks approval from Facebook. Neither General Atlantic nor Facebook would comment on the reports.

Facebook said in January it had raised $1.5bn from investors, including Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies, valuing the company at $50bn.

General Atlantic has $17bn in capital under management. The firm’s internet and media investments include luxury goods seller Gilt Groupe Inc. and software company Kaspersky Lab.

Facebook is currently the world’s most popular social networking site, with more than 500m users.

Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com