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Elevating stake in Facebook

By
James Covert
Published June 29, 2010, 4:00 a.m. ET

Unlike some of its earlier investment flops, Bono’s investment firm, Elevation Partners, is riding high on its stake in Facebook.

Elevation — a tech-focused private-equity firm that counts the socially-conscious Irish rock star as a key backer — has plunked down $120 million to enlarge its stake in the privately held social-networking site, bringing its total investment in the company to $210 million, according to a letter to investors first published by the blog TechCrunch.

Although Facebook isn’t publicly traded, Elevation, which also counts venture capitalist Roger McNamee among its backers, was able to buy shares from insiders on the secondary market.

Elevation’s beefed-up Facebook investment appears to be successful — in sharp contrast to earlier blunders, which have included taking big stakes in Palm and Forbes Media. That will likely help Elevation persuade its investors to give it a one-year extension on investing the $1.9 billion its fund has raised, according to reports.

Last November, Elevation shelled out $90 million, or $36 a share, for a 2.5-million-share stake in Facebook that amounted to about 1 percent of the company.

In its latest purchase of Facebook shares, Elevation has cut an even better deal, purchasing them at an average of $24 each. In total, Elevation’s purchase price values the company at $14 billion, versus the $24 billion valuation reflected in the current secondary market.

That likely reflects the cozy relationship between Elevation and Facebook, which still controls who is on its exclusive roster of investors. Elevation partner Marc Bodnick is the brother-in-law of Facebook operating chief Sheryl Sandberg, TechCrunch noted.

The deal also has boosted speculation about an initial public offering of Facebook. While insiders speculate about an IPO in 2011, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this month the company hasn’t set a date.