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Facebook IPO 'delay' as Zuckerberg keeps Wall St 'waiting'

Just too busy to meet masters of the universe?

Facebook's much-awaited IPO may be pushed back into June reports claim, as its glamourous and youthful CEO Mark Zuckerberg is just too busy to meet Wall St.

CNBC reports that "a string of acquisitions and other business distractions are threatening to delay the sale". The suggestions comes from "people familiar with the matter".

In practice, this means if the social networking giant was to meet the expected date of IPO-ing in mid-May, the traditional investor roadshow would have to kick off in a week and a half.

But because Zuckerberg has been "more focused on running the business" and forging his own acquisition strategy, he's just not had "time to prepare".

Thus it seems the roadshow is unlikely to start before mid-May, possibly not till the end of the month, meaning shares won't trade till early to mid-June.

In the last few weeks Zuckerberg singlehandedly pulled off the purchase of Instagram for $1bn. The firm also bought a bundle of IP on Monday.

Yesterday also saw an updated S1 filing, which revealed surging user figures and revenue, but also a year on year drop in net income in both absolute and relative terms.

Together with the apparent go-it-alone Zuckerberg Instagram deal, this might have left some potential investors taking a slightly harder line with the wunderkind than the expected coronation he'd might otherwise have been expecting.

As it is, delaying till June, as well as giving him time to prepare, will allow the dust time to calm down. Of course, if delaying to June, why not delay to July, when the firm might be able to file another S1 which could show cheerier numbers for the second quarter.

We asked Facebook if there was a delay, and if so why. A spokesperson said it had no comment to make due to its IPO quiet period. ®

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