Facebook 上市——栽了跟头 By 仲夏

Facebook’s flotation

Facebook 上市

That sinking feeling

栽了跟头

The shine quickly comes off the social network’s huge IPO

社交网络IPO，光彩瞬间暗淡

May 26th 2012 | SAN FRANCISCO | from the print edition

IT WAS supposed to be a coming-out party for the most eligible firm in the world. But Facebook’s initial public offering (IPO) on the NASDAQ stockmarket on May 18th has swiftly turned into an inquisition. Facebook’s shares had fallen to $32, or 16% below their issue price of $38, by the close of trading on May 23rd (see chart). Accusations are now flying as to who is to blame. And American financial regulators are polishing their magnifying glasses.

5月18日在纳斯达克的首次公开发行（IPO）对 Facebook 来说本该是一场介绍自己的闪亮舞会。但这却陡然演变成了一场审讯。截至5月23日收盘，Facebook 的股价从发行价每股38美元跌至每股32美元，跌幅高达16%（见上图）。对此，谴责横生。同时美国的金融监管当局也开始擦亮他们的“放大境”准备查明原因。

The flotation has already led to legal action. Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, the firm’s boss, and the underwriters who supported its IPO have all been sued by disgruntled shareholders. They claim that less wildly optimistic growth forecasts for the company were given to favoured investors just ahead of the flotation, rather than to the market as a whole. Facebook says the suit is bullfeathers. Separately, a regulator in Massachusetts issued a subpoena to Morgan Stanley as part of an investigation into whether the investment bank had selectively distributed revised forecasts for Facebook. The bank says it followed the same procedure as in other public offerings and that it is “in compliance with all applicable regulations”.

这次IPO已经导致了一场法律行动。不满的股东们起诉了 Facebook，起诉了它的CEO扎克伯格和这次IPO的承销商们。他们声称，就在IPO之前，Facebook 向一部分投资者提供了不那么过分乐观的股价上涨预测——而不是向整个市场。Facebook 否认了这一说法。另外，麻州的一位官员已向摩根斯坦利发了传票，以调查这家投行是否有选择性地向投资者提供了修正过后的 Facebook 预测报告。摩根斯坦利称他们遵守了IPO的所有程序，并且“没有违反任何规定”。

Regulators may also look into the technical glitches on the NASDAQ that disrupted early trading in Facebook’s stock. These marred the firm’s debut, though it has only itself and its advisers to blame for the rout. A few days before trading began, Facebook increased the number of shares on offer by 25% and settled on a price well above the $28-35 range it had initially set. Its bankers must have believed that the appetite for Facebook shares was bottomless, and that investors would hang on to them. They were mistaken. “The underwriters are to blame for allocating so many of Facebook’s shares to hedge funds and other clients that were planning on flipping the stock,” says Jay Ritter, an IPO expert at the University of Florida.

监管当局也应调查调查纳斯达克的技术失误，这一小插曲耽误了 Facebook 股票的早期交易。这一切给 Facebook 的初次公开亮相抹了黑——虽然要怪也只能怪 Facebook 自己和它的顾问们。就在交易开始前的几天，Facebook 增加了发行股数，并将每股价格定在了远远高于之前确定的28-35美元的38美元。承销商们一定以为不论股价高低，股民们对 Facebook 股票的需求都是无限的。他们错了。“承销商们给了对冲基金和其他一些客户太多 Facebook 的股票，这些人都迫不及待地想把这些股票卖掉，”佛罗里达大学的 IPO 专家 Jay Ritter 说道。

Facebook’s defenders claim the IPO was a success. It raised a whopping $16 billion for the company and its early backers. But it was clearly a public-relations disaster. Two congressional committees are demanding information. All this has sent a chill through Silicon Valley, and will make investors warier of other web outfits hoping to go public. May 18th may turn out to be the day the bubble in social media burst.

Facebook 的拥护者称这次 IPO 是一场胜利。它为这个公司和它的早期投资者融到160亿资金。但它对于公司来讲无疑是一次公共关系危机。两个国会委员会都要要求公开更多信息。这一切都为硅谷送去了一股寒风，并让投资者们对其他希望上市的网站也更加忧心忡忡。5月18日也许会成为社交媒体泡沫破灭的纪念日。