Facebook is revising the price range for its initial public offering to $34-$38, according to people familiar with matter – a significant increase versus the prior range of $28-$35.

The social networking giant is expected to disclose the new range in an updated IPO filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that could come as early as Tuesday morning, according to one of these people. At $38, the company would be valued at roughly $103B

Facebook has seen strong demand from investors: the deal became highly oversubscribed only a few days after the company began marketing the deal on its IPO roadshow last week.

Facebook is expected to price the offering on Thursday night, and begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker “FB”.

The deal is being led by Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, with a total of 33 banks acting as advisors

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|Facebook IPO News & Analysis -

Facebook’s record initial public offering is already oversubscribed, a source familiar with the share listing said, days after the world’s largest social network embarked on a cross-country roadshow to drum up investor enthusiasm.

Despite concerns about slowing growth, a lofty valuation and signs the company is having trouble ramping up revenue from mobile advertising, institutional investors have so far indicated demand for more shares than Facebook has available, the source told Reuters.

Analysts say the company, which is seeking to raise about $10.6 billion by selling more than 337 million shares at $28 to $35 apiece, may raise that price range if demand turns out to be healthy enough.

One large institutional investor had put in a major order for shares on Wednesday and was calling around syndicate desks trying to acquire more, a second source familiar with the IPO’s progress told Reuters, declining to be identified because the details are not public.

The company that began as Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room project is expected to begin trading on May 18 after an IPO that dwarfs the coming-out parties of other tech powerhouses.

|Facebook IPO News & Analysis -

A Facebook worker at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, California

The US tax authorities are in for a major windfall from Facebook chief Mark Zukerberg, as the upcoming IPO of the social networking giant could make him pay in taxes as much as $903 million.

Interestingly, his total estimated tax payout amounts to more than 85 per cent of the total proceeds of about $1.045 billion Zuckerberg is expected to rake in from part sale of his own shares in Facebook — leaving him with a net cash proceeds of just about $142 million .

Facebook’s IPO is slated to hit the market later this year and could fetch in between $77-96 billion, depending on the investors’ appetite.

The IPO roadshow, which would seek to attract investors for putting in their money in the social media behemoth, would begin tomorrow.

As per an analysis by US-based research firm, PrivCo, the 27-year old Zukerberg stands to pay as much as $714 million in national taxes and another $189 million as state taxes to California, while still pocketing $142 million.

“According to our calculations, Mark Zuckerberg will be paying an estimated USD189 million payment to the State of California this year as a result of the Facebook IPO, expected to be completed this month,” PrivCo Founder & CEO Sam Hamadeh said.

PrivCo assumes total tax of 43 per cent, a combination of maximum federal tax of 36 per cent and the maximum California tax of 9.3 per cent, less partial federal deductions for state taxes paid.

“He will have to incur a combined state and federal tax rate of 43 per cent on the $ 2.1 billion for a total tax payment of USD 903 million incurred at the IPO date,” PrivCo said in its report.

The agency added that the tax proceeds from Zuckerberg will help the State of California deal with budget deficits.

“The funds are badly needed as California continues to suffer from budget deficits, and could not have come at a better time for the state,” Hamadeh said.

Zuckerberg, who holds a total of 533.8 million shares, would sell 30.2 million shares in the IPO — garnering about $1.05 billion in cash at the high end of the proposed price range of $28- $35 for the sale of shares. The 30.2 million shares, PrivCo noted, would be used to finance the tax liability due at the time of the IPO.

The remaining 504 million shares held by the young CEO after the IPO would be worth $17.6 billion, if Facebook hits the top of its IPO price range.

“More taxes will come due as more shares are sold beginning in December and well into 2013 after the traditional 180-day post-IPO ‘lock-up’ period expires and employees can sell even more shares, resulting in new capital gains taxes to California – and the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) – with each new stock sale,” Hamdeh noted.

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|Facebook IPO News & Analysis -

Facebook today once again updated its filing for an initial public offering (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is the fifth time it has done so, and the biggest update is that Facebook has set a price range of $28 to $35.

Given the sale of some 337.4 million shares, 180 million of Class A common stock, this means the company could raise between $5.04 billion as much as $6.3 billion. The company estimates it will likely net $5.6 billion from the offering if it achieves a mid-point price of $31.50 per share.

Here’s the relevant excerpt:

Facebook, Inc. is offering 180,000,000 shares of its Class A common stock and the selling stockholders are offering 157,415,352 shares of Class A common stock. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders. This is our initial public offering and no public market currently exists for our shares of Class A common stock. We anticipate that the initial public offering price will be between $28.00 and $35.00 per share.

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg will personally sell 30.2 million shares for the IPO. Despite this, he will still control the majority of the company: 57.3 percent of voting shares after the IPO.

The social network is now likely only about two weeks away from a final pricing and the first trading of its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market, under the symbol FB. The company is planning to start its roadshow to pitch its stock to investors on Monday, people familiar with the matter have said.

Companies regularly tweak their pricing information after they’ve issued a first pricing range. That means Facebook’s share price could climb higher in the coming days, depending on demand seen by the firm’s investment bankers as they showcase the deal to institutional investors on a roadshow.

If Facebook ends up going public at the lower end of its price range, that would be a big hit for investors like Kevin Landis of San Jose, Calif., tech fund Firsthand Capital. Mr. Landis bought shares of Facebook on the secondary market for $31 to $32 a share over the last year and agreed not to sell the shares for six months after the IPO.

|Facebook IPO News & Analysis -

Facebook expects to get approval from government regulators to officially distribute its S-1 initial public offering (IPO) prospectus to investors within days, which would pave the way for a road show to begin as early as next week, sources close to the situation said Tuesday.

The social networking giant is expected to go public in the second or third week of May, a timeline that currently appears to be on track.

In addition — although some have speculated that its famous CEO and cofounder, Mark Zuckerberg, might not take a “hands-on” role in the high-profile process, having missed one pre-IPO meeting with Wall Street analysts and bankers — sources said he would be appearing before potential shareholders and would be present at key meetings to help sell the company to them.

“Facebook is Mark Zuckerberg, and Mark Zuckerberg is Facebook,” one person with knowledge of the situation said. “He’ll do his job as CEO, as he always does.”

Indeed, although he is often portrayed as shy and not a fan of the limelight, Zuckerberg has always stepped up — and rather enthusiastically — when a public appearance is needed, whether in times of trouble or touting for the eight-year-old company.

This is a touting Facebook moment, of course, as it seeks to raise up to $10 billion in a blockbuster offering that could value the company at $75 billion or more. Filed in February, that will make it the biggest internet IPO ever.

Also expected to play key roles in the road show are Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, as well as other top Facebook execs.

Whether they all can rev up the jets and get going on the road show depends on the Securities and Exchange Commission finally declaring Facebook’s preliminary prospectus of its business and finances “effective,” or in legal compliance.

Among the areas of likely concern are the Yahoo patent lawsuit and, most importantly, how Zuckerberg and others characterize the slowing of its explosive revenue growth in its most recent filing update.

Last week, Facebook said its revenue was $1.058 billion, up 46 percent for the year but down six percent from the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2012, its net income was $205 million, which was down from $233 million a year ago. The company attributed the decline to rising costs, including in marketing and in research

|Facebook IPO News & Analysis -