Facebook IPO set for May

Facebook could be planning to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in May of this year.

A report from All Things Digital cited unnamed sources in reporting that the company was looking to go public in late spring. The site said that the offering is likely to occur over the third week of May.

It has long been known that Facebook was planning an IPO.  In November, the company was said to have been targeting the second quarter of 2012 for its stock offering.

An IPO from Facebook would be the largest from a technology firm in recent years, with recent valuations of the company reaching as high as $100bn.

Rob Enderle, founder and principal analyst for the Enderle Group, told V3 that a Facebook IPO would also help to shape the future of the industry, as many firms will base their own IPO decisions on the outcome of a Facebook offering.

"This will be a huge bellwether. If it goes well, it will likely result in a wave of IPOs and could, in and of itself, signal a major market recovery," Enderle explained.

"If it fails, the opposite would also be true."

Facebook's anticipated IPO comes in the wake of a number of public offerings from web firms. Last year, social networking site LinkedIn saw its share price double within minutes of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Music streaming service Pandora Media's IPO also proved popular, though economic worries later caused the company's stock price to cool.