Insight: Morgan Stanley cut Facebook estimates just before IPO »

In the run-up to Facebook’s $16 billion IPO, Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter on the deal, unexpectedly delivered some negative news to major clients: The bank’s consumer Internet analyst, Scott Devitt, was reducing his revenue forecasts for the company.

The sudden caution very close to the huge initial public offering, and while an investor roadshow was underway, was a big shock to some, said two investors who were advised of the revised forecast.

“The IPO market is dying,” he said. “You see companies achieving robust valuations on the private market but being treated poorly when they go public. Often there are factors like the credit crisis or the situation in Europe affecting the markets. It’s the reasons entrepreneurs like myself never want to go public.”

Barry Silbert, CEO of SecondMarket, discussing the ‘death of IPOs.’ 

Click through to Venture Beat’s coverage of this ‘private breakfast thrown by Bloomberg Markets’ where Sibert spoke.

“Zynga should be an example of entrepreneurship at its best,” said Roger McNamee, a co-founder of the venture capital firm Elevation Partners. “Instead it’s going to be a Harvard Business School case study on founder overreach — this will be a cautionary tale.”

A quote in this NYT piece warning that Zynga’s culture may be its Achilles heel. Also worth noting: Zynga’s not allowed to talk to media, as they are preparing an IPO - they are in a mandatory quiet period - but there are many former senior Zynga executives who spoke on the condition of anonymity, of course, to the Times. Even though they no longer work for the company, it kind of subversively mocks the whole ‘must be quiet’ period, no? Would talking with former employees, especially those who were high up in the food chain and may have an axe to grind, drive pre-IPO prices down?

A Message from CEO Nigel Travis Regarding Dunkin' Brands' Initial Public Offering »

This is a big day for Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, as Dunkin’ Brands officially goes public. Today, I’ll have the honor of representing the company in New York City as “DNKN” is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market for the very first time. 

As part of our celebration today, I am tremendously excited and a bit humbled that our brands’ iconic images will appear high above Times Square on the NASDAQ MarketSite Tower. I’m honored that NASDAQ is unofficially changing its name for today only to “NASDDAQ,” with a special new logo incorporating Dunkin’ Donuts’ famous pink and orange Ds on their electronic signage in Times Square and on the official NASDAQ website.

More News from the IPO World

With LinkedIn and now Groupon’s IPO creating headlines, this one has been low on the radar but could potentially make some interesting waves. Private Equity powerhouse, Carlyl Group, seems to be closing in on its IPO by the end of the year, according to Reuters:

Carlyle Group is looking to pick banks to underwrite its planned IPO in the coming month, four sources familiar with the situation said, making it the latest buyout firm to tap the public markets.

Carlyle, which is gearing up to join publicly traded rivals Blackstone Group (BX.N), Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR.N) and Apollo Global Management (APO.N), hopes to file its IPO prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the third quarter, two of those sources said.

…

The firm, founded in 1987, has assets under management of more than $106.7 billion according to its website. In February, Carlyle hired NASDAQ OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O) Chief Financial Officer Adena Friedman as its CFO.

WSJ: Groupon Files for IPO »

 

Groupon Inc. filed on Thursday to go public, looking to raise up to $750 million, in what would be one of this year’s most high-profile IPOs.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Credit Suisse are the lead underwriters for the IPO of the Internet company, which sells discounted goods and services through online deals.

Groupon earned $644.7 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2011, up from $3.3 million in the second quarter of 2009 and $44.2 million in the first quarter of 2010. But it lost $146.5 million in the first quarter.


WSJ: LinkedIn Prices IPO at $45 a Share »

LinkedIn Corp. said Wednesday its initial public offering will be priced at $45 share, valuing the professional networking site at more than $4 billion.

Demand has been running high this week for the stock, which is scheduled to begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LNKD. The company had raised its price range Tuesday to $42 to $45 a share, a $10 increase.

LinkedIn Files to go public. From Mashable:

Though the company does not reveal a price, number of shares, or date for its offering in a its filing, it does reveal insight into its financials. According to the filing, LinkedIn generated $120 million in revenue for 2009, and $161 million through the first nine months of 2010, where it also turned a profit with a net income of $1.8 million.

Is this the beginning of the end for the social web? What is the stage called before the bubble bursts? Is this it?