Facebook cozies up to three more international banks pre-IPO

Facebook has reportedly hired three more banks to underwrite its IPO, bringing the total number of financial institutions on that merry bandwagon to nine — not including Ernst & Young, which is overseeing accounting and auditing for the deal.

Today, the social network may have added Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, and Citi to its already large list of financial institutions for the IPO. Facebook listed firms Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Barclays, and Allen & Company in its S-1 filing with the SEC.

According to an anonymous Bloomberg source, the firms are being added to increase Facebook’s cash flow and help the startup deal with a Yahoo patent claim, as well as taxes.

Facebook hasn’t yet priced its shares, but analysts expect a late spring or early summer public offering.

“Some analysts are saying May; I would say it won’t be after August, barring any unforeseen economic catastrophes,” said Dunn & Bradstreet IPO expert Lee Simmons in a recent VentureBeat interview.

As for which market the stock will debut on, the company stated in its original S-1, “We intend to apply to list our common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market or the New York Stock Exchange.”

However, even after the company goes public, CEO Mark Zuckerberg will still maintain control of the company and the board through an unusual power play that lets him control the votes of a huge and influential block of shareholders.

“This is not common at all,” said Menlo Ventures partner Mark Siegel, who has monitored quite a few IPOs in his time in Silicon Valley, in a recent VentureBeat interview. “He negotiated a very unique deal…I’m sure there’s a point where shares were offered with that as a contingency.”

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