Facebook debut will give US big lead in global IPO stakes

Facebook is going public in the US next week with an equity offering that is likely to raise more money than all the initial public offerings in Hong Kong or China so far this year.

At up to $13.5 billion, Facebook’s IPO would be one of the biggest ever and just the kind of megadeal that once kept bankers in Hong Kong busy year-round, back when China’s big state-owned companies regularly rolled out huge and often cheap offerings that investors queued around the block to buy.