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Facebook took a formal step toward joining the ranks of other public technology giants after filing for its eagerly anticipated initial public offering (IPO), which could value the company by as much as US$100 billion.

The company filed an S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission today, officially declaring its intent to go public. Facebook stands to raise as much as US$10 billion, although the actual amount won’t be settled for another few months, when the offering is actually held.

The S-1 pulls back the curtain on Facebook’s business, providing investors with a formal glimpse into its financials. The company boasted 845 million monthly active users, more than doubling its year-earlier total, according to the filing. Last year, it saw revenue double to US$3.7 billion, while its profit grew 65 per cent to US$1 billion.

More important are the hundreds of millions of users that regularly visit the site, exchanging messages, “liking” each other comments, and posting photos and videos. Those are customers that, for better or worse, Facebook has a lot of data on, offering advertisers a large and engaged audience for targeted advertising.

In addition, the company’s platform has fostered a number of developers, such as Zynga, which thrive on the social network’s audience and tendency to share.

Facebook’s proposed valuation would instantly catapult the social network into the ranks of the largest companies, although it still lags far behind established top-tier behemoths Exxon Mobil, Apple and Microsoft. The company’s track record of revenue and profit growth — which few other private tech companies can claim — as well as the opportunities that come from its massive reach justifies the huge value in many investors’ eyes.

Facebook caps off a recent run of technology companies going public, including LinkedIn, Pandora, Groupon and Zynga all tapping general investors last year. While the success of those companies can be debated, there is no arguing the reach and access Facebook has to its users.

But Facebook has taken an unusually long road to the public market. CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has long resisted an IPO, and at one point said he would prefer to keep the company private. Rather than go public a year ago, Facebook opted for a private offering of US$1.5 billion in the highly coveted company shares — a deal that valued the company at US$50 billion. Further highlighting his preference to retain control of the company, Zuckerberg rejected a US$1 billion takeover offer from Yahoo in 2006.

While Zuckerberg may have been boosting demand by holding off on an IPO, the filing comes at a time when many are questioning the value of other internet-based companies, with the stock activity of companies such as Zynga — a gaming company that was created out of Facebook’s social-networking platform — failing to meet expectations.

Wall Street has long sought the IPO of the social-networking juggernaut, with several firms vying to take the company public. The money raised from the offering would mean a hefty fee for underwriters Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, JP Morgan and Allen Co.

More details to come.

Via CNET