Facebook faces lawsuits over its growth forecasts ahead of IPO in 2012
A US judge has given the go-ahead to two lawsuits accusing Facebook of hiding concerns over growth forecasts ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) in 2012.
Facebook floated around three-and-a-half years ago at $38 per share. But initial investors would've lost out after its share price fell as low as $17.55 a few months later, and stayed below the IPO price for more than a year.
US district judge Robert Sweet said investors who claimed to have unfairly lost money after buying shares in the $16bn flotation can launch a class action suit.
Facebook defendants include chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and other officials.
Facebook has said it will appeal the class actions, which the company described as "without merit" and in conflict with "well-settled" precedent.
The decision was dated December 11, however it had been kept under seal. Sweet made it public yesterday.
Facebook shares were last up around 1.26 per cent at $107.26 per share.