Advertising company Interpublic Group has sold about half its stake in Facebook for $133m after having backed the company in 2006. The buyer was undisclosed.
The stake sale valued Facebook at $66bn, according to news provider Financial Times, which said Interpublic had a 0.4% stake before the sale.
Michael Roth, Interpublic’s executive chairman, said: "Interpublic formed a strategic relationship with Facebook in 2006 that allowed us to fast-track the growth of our social media offerings on behalf of clients. Facebook has since become a part of daily life for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Its ubiquity has meant the strategic value of our initial investment has moderated, while the financial value of that stake appreciated significantly. As a result, when an attractive opportunity to divest a portion of our position recently presented itself, we decided that it made sense to do so."
Interpublic said the sale would allow it to book a $132m pre-tax gain. Facebook had paid less than $5m for its stake, when Facebook was valued at about $1bn to $2bn, the FT said, citing people close to Interpublic.
Interpublic had won the right to invest in Facebook after committing to spend $10m for its clients on the network, the FT added.
Separately Interpublic’s corporate venturing unit Mediabrands Ventures has recently been reorganised into three portfolio "bundles", according to news provider Ad Week. The first bundle will deal with mass audiences, the second would focus on targeting audiences and consumers by locations, and the third would target direct audiences, Ad Week said.
Liz Ross, formerly president of Mediabrands Ventures North America, had taken on the role as head of the groups for Mediabrands North American, and Anand Verma, formerly president of Mediabrands EMEA, had become head of the groups serving G14 countries, Ad Week said.