We’ve noted that one of the surprises so far in the Facebook IPO sweepstakes was that JPMorgan Chase ended up being the No. 2 underwriter, relegating Goldman Sachs to third in the pecking order.
Both banks of course rank behind the big winner, Morgan Stanley, but ahead of the second tier, which comprises Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Allen & Co. The top three were noted in large, bold type in the prospectus, while the second tier was noted in smaller type.
So how did JPMorgan pull it off?
Reuters reports that “JPMorgan's months of schmoozing with Facebook executives paid off in the end…JPMorgan's Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, veteran rainmaker Jimmy Lee and other senior executives courted Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman over the last year to help pave the way for the offering…As recently as December, Dimon visited Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, California, to establish its position within the team of bookrunner.”
In addition, Lee has had a long relationship with Sandberg for years. It didn’t hurt that JPMorgan Chase has been a creditor to the company, along with most of the other bookrunners (except Allen & Co.).
For more:
- here’s the article
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T. Rowe Price holds big Facebook stake
Banks that missed the Facebook cut
