• Reuters, Monday, May 9, 2011 11:43 AM

Ready to go public, LinkedIn on Monday said it would offer 7.84 million shares in its IPO, which could value the company at over $3 billion at the high end of its offering price range. As Reuters reports, "LinkedIn is generating significant interest as one of the first social networking companies to start the process of being publicly traded, ahead of the much-anticipated Facebook IPO." In January, LinkedIn filed with U.S. regulators for an IPO to raise up to $175 million.

All told, the company expects to receive net proceeds of about $146.6 million from the shares it is offering in the IPO, based on an assumed offering price of $33.50 a share. Shares owned by co-founder and LinkedIn board chairman Reid Hoffman, who is among those stockholders selling their shares in the IPO, would represent about 21.7% of voting power, Reuter points out. Other key stakeholders offering their shares include Goldman Sachs, McGraw-Hill Companies, and Bain Capital Venture Integral Investors.

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