Interpublic Group Of Cos. (IPG) agreed to sell about half of its
Facebook Inc. stake for $133 million in cash, and increased its
stock repurchase plans by $150 million.
Interpublic's stake in Facebook was valued between $200 million
and $300 million in April, according to a Financial Times report
citing people close to the advertising company. According to the
report, the stake cost Interpublic less than $5 million when
purchased in 2006.
The social-networking giant has signaled that it intends to
launch an initial public offering sometime next year.
"When an attractive opportunity to divest a portion of our
position recently presented itself, we decided that it made sense
to do so," said Chairman and Chief Executive Michael I. Roth.
Interpublic expects to book a pretax gain of $132 from the
privately negotiated transaction.
The company also increased its existing stock repurchase program
to $450 million from $300 million. Interpublic has repurchased
$187.6 million of its stock through Aug. 12.
Interpublic reported last month its second-quarter earnings rose
27% as international business helped drive revenue growth, but
higher staff-related costs hurt margins.
Shares closed Friday at $8.64 and were inactive premarket. The
stock has fallen 19% so far this year.
-By Melodie Warner, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2283; melodie.warner@dowjones.com