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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Photos show three dead men at bin Laden raid house 04 May 2011 Photos show three dead men at bin Laden raid house 04 May 2011 Obama decides against bin Laden photo release | 3:44am EDT Special report: Why the U.S. mistrusts Pakistan's spy agency 04 May 2011 Bin Laden death "video" used as computer scam hook 04 May 2011 Discussed 168 Obama to make statement late Sunday, White House says 129 Concerns raised over shooting of unarmed bin Laden, burial 112 Donald Trump calls U.S. leaders ”stupid” Watched Video of bin Laden compound fire Mon, May 2 2011 Bin Laden unarmed when killed - White House Tue, May 3 2011 Fire ants form rafts to defy floods Tue, Apr 26 2011 Renren's big day, maybe a prelude to Facebook IPO Tweet Share this By Clare Baldwin and Jennifer Saba NEW YORK (Reuters) - Renren's successful IPO could be the curtain raiser for what is to come if the world's No. 1 social networking site, Facebook, goes public next year. Shares of Renren Inc, one of the biggest... Email Print Related News Glencore $11 billion IPO to make billionaires of bosses Wed, May 4 2011 Renren IPO pricing delayed until Wednesday -sources Wed, May 4 2011 Wall Street falls as earnings fears threaten rally Tue, May 3 2011 Renren's audit committee chair quits ahead of IPO Tue, May 3 2011 Sony suffers second major user data theft Mon, May 2 2011 Analysis & Opinion Tech wrap: Sony says Anonymous set stage for breach Goldman got a steal of a deal on Facebook Related Topics Technology » Deals » Global Deals Data 2011 Q1 » Hot Stocks » Asian Markets » Media » Facebook » Stocks China's Renren Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Joseph Chen (C) is joined by executives and guests as he rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, May 4, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Adam Au - NYSE Euronext/Handout By Clare Baldwin and Jennifer Saba NEW YORK | Wed May 4, 2011 8:41pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Renren's successful IPO could be the curtain raiser for what is to come if the world's No. 1 social networking site, Facebook, goes public next year. Shares of Renren Inc, one of the biggest social networking companies in China, surged 28.6 percent in their debut on Wednesday. Strong demand for the unprofitable company -- which will make money "very soon," according to Chief Executive Joseph Chen -- is the latest sign investors are eager to snap up stock in social media companies. The stock rose as high as $21.93, or almost 56.6 percent above its $14 IPO price, in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange before closing at $18.01. Earlier on Wednesday, Renren raised $743.4 million in its IPO. Renren's offering comes amid a grab for hot social media companies, including Twitter, Facebook, Groupon and Zynga, which are propped up by multibillion-dollar valuations of their shares trading on the secondary markets. "There is no doubt this just adds to the allure to a potential Facebook IPO," said Morningstar IPO strategist Bill Buhr. Facebook has a market value of around $70 billion, based on a share sale currently being contemplated, making it worth more than companies such as Boeing Co. Renren shares are trading at slightly more than 80 times annualized sales for the six months ended December 31, 2010, estimates IPOdesktop.com President Francis Gaskins. That's well above Facebook, valued at 35 times last year's sales in gray market trading. "If you like Renren, you'll love Facebook, Gaskins said. FACEBOOK WITH "FLEAS" High valuations for other social networking companies, combined with the fact China is the world's biggest Internet market, were expected to help Renren attract investors. On Tuesday night, in anticipation of Renren's IPO, Chinese Internet stocks, including search engine Baidu Inc and online media company SINA Corp, traded off in heavy volume. Investors in Renren seemed to brush aside recent concerns dogging the company, including questions about its internal financial controls, the resignation of its audit committee chairman and the tight control and censorship of the Chinese government. If Renren fails to comply with Chinese government Internet regulations, its websites could be shut down, according to the risk factors section of its prospectus. Renren -- whose name means "everyone" in Chinese -- has also faced questions about the number of users it has. The company, in an amended IPO filing on April 27, had to revise the number it said it had in December 2010. According to the revised filing, Renren's monthly unique log-in user base grew by only 5 million, or 19 percent, in the first quarter of 2011 -- not the 7 million, or 29 percent, it previously reported. A spokesperson for the company said the revision corrected a typographical error. Either way, companies in China's red hot tech sector have a history of providing opaque data and statistics. Some brush off concerns, saying the direction of the numbers is more important than specific figures, but others have expressed concern. A handful of research firms -- some associated with short sellers -- have begun issuing reports criticizing the financial reporting of some Chinese companies. One such report led to the resignation of Renren's audit committee chairman and director, Derek Palaschuk. He told Reuters in an interview he resigned to protect Renren from any possible fallout from accusations of accounting fraud at another company where he is an executive. Palaschuk's resignation was for personal reasons, Renren CEO Chen told Reuters Insider. "I'm not personally concerned about it. I'm pleased that the board paid attention to the issues it should be paying attention to and took proper action," said Dixon Doll, co-founder and general partner of venture capital firm DCM, which is an investor in Renren. Renren's IPO gave it a market value of $5.7 billion, according to an underwriter. It closed out its first day of trading with a market value of $7.4 billion. "(Renren) is basically Facebook with a few fleas," said Morningstar's Buhr. Renren had net revenue of $76.5 million in 2010 and about 117 million activated users as of March 31, 2011. It had about 31 million monthly unique log-in users in March 2011. Beijing-based Renren sold 53.1 million American Depositary Shares for $14 each on Wednesday. It had planned to go public for $12 to $14 per share after raising its estimated price range by 30 percent last week from $9 to $11. The IPO was originally expected on Tuesday after the close of U.S. markets, but was delayed until Wednesday morning. Clearance by the Securities and Exchange Commission took longer than expected, Chen said. Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse led underwriters on the IPO. (Additional reporting by Alina Selyukh and Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman, Andre Grenon, Richard Chang and Steve Orlofsky) Technology Deals Global Deals Data 2011 Q1 Hot Stocks Asian Markets Media Facebook Tweet this Share this Link this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language, all capital letters or appear to be spam, and we review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Social Stream (What's this?) © Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Reader Feedback Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Analyst Research Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts Venture Capital Journal International Financing Review Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week FindLaw Super Lawyers Attorney Rating Service Reuters on Facebook Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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