Advertising group Interpublic has revealed in its annual report that it owns a stake in social networking site Facebook.
The Financial Times quoted sources saying the company paid less than $5m for the stake – thought to be less than half a per cent – in 2006.
The exact figures have not been disclosed, but people close to Interpublic say it owns slightly less than a half per cent of Facebook, and paid less than $5m for it in 2006, the FT reports.
Interpublic, which owns McCann Erickson and other agencies and is led by chief executive Michael Roth, secured shares in what was then an emerging site mostly popular with university students.
Interpublic was compelled to disclose the stake to the SEC after Facebook’s valuation continued to soar.
“From time to time, we make investments in privately held companies that we believe may be of interest to the advertising and marketing sectors,” the company wrote in its annual report for December.
“Certain of these investments, the most significant of which is Facebook, have significantly appreciated compared to their cost, but there can be no assurance as to the terms on which we would be able to dispose of any such investments.”
When Interpublic took its stake in Facebook, the social network was valued at between $1bn and $2bn. Just a year later, however, Microsoft invested $240m in Facebook at a $15bn valuation.
Based on a valuation of $50bn, an Interpublic stake of 0.4 per cent would be worth $200m. In recent weeks, however, Facebook has been valued at up to $85bn on the secondary market.
