Facebook Stock Maneuver Feeds IPO Rumors

Consider yourself forewarned: the official line is that "Facebook has no plans to go public at this time."  Just the same, a financial maneuver the company's performing has raised a few eyebrows since it seems to point towards that possibility.

Jessica E. Vascellaro reported this afternoon, "The company is in the process of converting all current shareholders to Class B stock, which carries ten times the voting power of Class A stock . . . .  Those shares will remain Class B shares unless the owner sells them during an initial public offering, at which time they will become Class A shares . . ."

This sort of exercise helps ensure that existing stockholders retain control of a company regardless of what happens on an open market.  In Facebook's case, Mark Zuckerberg, who owns many, many shares, would benefit most.  (Important note: It's not necessarily an "evil" move, though, as Google did the same sort of thing for the sake of Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt.)

So what we have here is one more piece of evidence (remember the preexisting enthusiasm surrounding its stock?) that Facebook could be headed towards an IPO.

Even if Facebook doesn't have definite plans to go public, the recession at least hasn't completely scared the company away from the idea, then.

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Internet.com Sold for $18 Million

WebMediaBrands (formerly JupiterMedia) has just announced that it is selling Internet.com for $18 million to QuinStreet Inc. QuinStreet calls itself the leader in online performance-based vertical marketing.

“We believe that this transaction will be beneficial to WebMediaBrands and its stockholders as it will significantly improve our balance sheet and at the same time allow us to focus on growing BtoB communities in the non-tech space,” said WebMediaBrands Chairman and CEO Alan Meckler in a statement.

From the release:

The Board of Directors of WebMediaBrands unanimously approved the transaction and resolved to recommend that WebMediaBrands’ stockholders approve the transaction. Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by WebMediaBrands’ stockholders and other customary closing conditions. In addition, Alan M. Meckler, WebMediaBrands’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and certain other stockholders, who, with Mr. Meckler, collectively hold approximately 39.5% of WebMediaBrands’ outstanding stock, have entered into definitive support agreements with QuinStreet, Inc. to vote a total of 37% of WebMediaBrands’ outstanding stock in favor of the transaction. The transaction is not subject to a financing condition. WebMediaBrands expects the transaction to be free of taxes.

WebmediaBrands will continue operating its online business, which still includes sites like MediaBistro.com and Graphics.com, as well as job boards, online education offering, and tradeshows.