Less than two weeks ago, the headline writers were on their knees sucking the Vampire Squid's funnel with headlines raving about GS' mega deal for Facebook's IPO. First of all, screw Facebook. Secondly, the headlines contained words such as, "Blowout", "Mega-Deal" and "Huge Money" as the squidmen was offering the IPO to only it's mega-rich clients.
But now, only twelve days later, the deal is closed to US investors. Why? Goldman begins the explanation with, "concluded the level of media attention might not be consistent with the proper completion of a U.S. private placement under U.S. law." This makes no sense.
Then there's this from the WSJ:
It wasn't immediately clear from Goldman's statement exactly what led executives to limit the Facebook deal to non-U.S. investors. The company remained tight-lipped about the offering despite the frenzy unleashed when the deal surfaced two weeks ago. Prospective investors were repeatedly told by Goldman not to publicly disclose details about the private offering.
Private placements like the Facebook deal are subject to strict SEC guidelines, and Goldman's statement Monday suggested that executives grew concerned that huge interest in the offering could expose the securities firm to regulatory vulnerability. One Goldman client was told the deal is being offered only to non-U.S. clients because of regulatory concerns. Chinese demand is especially strong, said one person familiar with the offering.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703396604576087941210274036.html
Some drivel from the yahoo's at Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110117/ap_on_en_ot/us_facebook_investors
Then there's this from the site owned by some 5' 3" Napoleonic complex ridden prick:
“Does this suggest that U.S. laws are prohibiting a certain group of investors from funding U.S. companies?” he said. “You might see some significant U.S. investors suggest that this is a negative for the U.S. economy.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-17/goldman-sachs-halts-facebook-share-sale-to-u-s-investors-on-rule-concerns.html
The moronic stock pumping weasels from Marketwatch have zero content to add:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldman-facebook-deal-for-foreign-clients-only-2011-01-17
So is this bizarre refusal to offer any US investors an attempt to tacitly threaten the masturbating, porn watching regulators at the SEC that if they pry to deep into the Squidmen dealings they will circumvent them by offering their bestest deals to only overseas investors? Being that the SEC are a bunch of masturbating, porn watching incompetent, conflicted and or corrupt regulators, I doubt it.
So why are they doing it? Is it to bow down to the US's largest creditor that exists outside the US border, Daddy Hu and company? Maybe.
Or is the Facebook deal that places a value of Facebook at over $50 billion not much different than the structured deals that were referred to as "Dog shit" by one of Goldman's VP's? probably
Fatboy sez: What. Me Worry?