LinkedIn 's IPO to test appetite for Facebook

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - LinkedIn Corp announced plans to go public this year in what could be a test of investor appetite for social networking websites ahead of a highly anticipated Facebook offering.

LinkedIn announced its intention to go public on Thursday, setting the stage for the company co-founded in 2002 by ex-PayPal executive Reid Hoffman to become the first social network to plant a flag on Wall Street.

But many investors will be watching LinkedIn 's IPO to gauge the appetite for Facebook , now valued at $50 billion as the world's most dominant social network, and other Internet IPOs.

" Facebook has definitely escalated people's interest in the sector and I think there's a lot of demand (for more Internet IPOs)," said Rory Maher, an analyst with Hudson Square Research.

The number of shares to be offered and the price range have not yet been determined, according to the form S-1 registration statement that LinkedIn filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor interest and valuations are surging for privately held Web companies like Facebook , Zynga and Groupon. LinkedIn revealed its plans a day after newly public Internet company Demand Media Inc saw its shares jump roughly 33 percent in their first day of trading.

Just this week, Groupon Chief Executive Andrew Mason said the company was considering an IPO and was in talks with bankers.

Facebook , the world's No. 1 Internet social network, recently raised $1.5 billion in funding in a deal that valued the company at $50 billion.

Facebook said recently it planned to publicly disclose its financial results by April 2012, a regulatory requirement triggered by the company's number of shareholders and a move that some believe could lead to a public offering.

LinkedIn 's net revenue nearly doubled to $161.4 million in the first nine months of 2010, with $1.85 million in profit, according to the filing.

In contrast, Facebook , which has far more users worldwide, had $1.2 billion in revenue in the first nine months of 2010 and $355 million in profit, according to a Goldman Sachs prospectus pitching the company earlier this month to investors.

LinkedIn , which caters to professionals, has 90 million users, compared with the more than 500 million users of Facebook 's mainstream social networking service.

Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and JPMorgan are among the book runners for the LinkedIn offering.

A portion of the shares will be issued and sold by the company, while a separate portion will be sold by certain stockholders of LinkedIn , the filing said. No specific details were disclosed.

LinkedIn 's investors include Greylock Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Goldman Sachs and Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm that has backed Yahoo , Google, Apple Cisco Systems and Oracle.

Karmapa questioned, searches continue at offices of trust

Dharamshala, Jan 29 (PTI) Police today continued searches at the offices of a trust backed by 17th Karmapa Ugyen Trinley Dorje, who was questioned over the seizure of foreign currency valued at Rs 7 crore.

Himachal DGP D S Minhas along with senior police officers inspected the Gyato monastery and the ashram at Sidhbari near here last evening and talked with the Karmapa.

Karmapa was asked about the foreign currency seized and as expected he said it was received through offerings, Minhas told PTI today.

He said the Karmapa was not under arrest or house arrest.

Searches continued at the offices of the Karma Garchen Trust today and so far Rs seven crore in currencies of over two dozen countries, including China, Taiwan, japan, South Korea, the UK, the US, Australia, German, has been seized.

Asked about the seizure, Karma Chunyappa, Deputy General Secretary of the Karmapa, asserted that the financial dealings of the monastery were transparent.

"We have a rich history of public service made possible through financial dealings that are entirely transparent. We will certainly answer all the questions that the press and public have but for now we request you to allow us to concentrate and comply fully with the investigations that are underway," he said.

The DGP said that some documents about land transactions had also been recovered and these were being scrutinised to find out whether there was a nexus between Tibetans and some local people indulging in benami land deals.

All non-agriculturists including bonafide Himachalis were barred from purchasing any land in Himachal without the permission of the government under section 118 of HP tenancy and Land Reforms Act and Tibetans having refugee status were not entitled to buy any land.

However, some Tibetans have acquired properties in Himachal and the High Court had issued notices to Tibetans in this regard.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today said the Himachal Government would share every information about the Karmapa with the Enforcement Directorate and security agencies.

"Certainly, the government of India must be having more information about Karmapa''s activities and the state government would abide by the direction of the Union Government as the matter is linked to internal security," he told reporters after launching a heli-taxi at Annandale helipad in Shimla. .

Switzerland to share tax information with India:Swiss official

Davos, Jan 29 (PTI) Dismissing the perception that Switzerland is a tax haven, a senior Swiss government official today expressed hope that the revised tax avoidance treaty with India will be ratified during the year, following which Swiss authorities would provide administrative assistance to India to deal with cases of tax evasion.

"We have recently signed an agreement with India, which is now in the Parliament in order to get rectified.

And then, we will concretely take steps against tax evasion and as soon as this agreement is enforced... both sides can also grant administrative assistance (to deal with ) tax evasion," Switzerland Federal Department of Finance State Secretary Miachael Ambuhl said in an interview to private news channel NDTV.

India and Switzerland in August last year signed a revised Double Tax avoidance Agreement (DTAA) that will enable exchange of information on tax evaders, considered a must for getting details on unaccounted funds stashed away by Indians in Swiss banks. The agreement, however, is yet to be ratified by the Switzerland Parliament.

"This perception is wrong. Switzerland is not a tax haven...Switzerland has not given tax refuge to people who want to hide their money," Ambuhl said, adding the agreement hopefully will be ratified this year.

"We want to have confidentiality for the bank clients but we don''t want to protect them from paying taxes. There is no such thing that in Switzerland you can avoid paying your taxes," he added.

He further said that if India authorities would get the information, provided they are able to produce evidence of tax evasion.

"If Indian authorities can show that there is evidence that people have evaded there money, then the answer is ''yes''. If Indian authorities can give evidence that for the person X or Y, there is evidence that they have evaded their taxes in Switzerland, we will grant administrative assistance", he added.

On whether the treaty would bring about substantial change, Ambuhl said, "It will not change everything. We have already got a good legal basis to grant judicial and administrative assistance, but as soon as this commences in force, then it will become even better."

PTI