Bloomberg reports that, according to its sources, Goldman has lost out to Morgan Stanley in the fight to lead the Facebook IPO, with JPMorgan set to be co-leader underwriter.
And up for grabs for all the firms involved in the IPO (and Goldman will be one of them) could ultimately be a massive $500m in fees.
The news agency quotes Jack Ablin, Chief Investment Officer for Chicago-based Harris Private Bank, who said: 'This means a huge windfall for them (Morgan Stanley). The fact that they have led so many high-profile social media deals in the last year is proof positive that Morgan Stanley is most likely to be able to get this deal done'.
Morgan Stanley won the biggest share (20%) of business underwriting U.S. initial offers by Internet companies last year, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.
But don't feel too bad for Goldman. Thanks to a $450m investment in Facebook 12 months ago, the firm will see a nice return when the company does float.
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