Bangalore: Facebook will reportedly be filing papers for a $5 billion Initial Public Offering on Wednesday, according to the International Financing Review (IFR), a unit of Thomson Reuters.

IFR reported that Morgan Stanley, the financial firm, was chosen to be the “left lead”, i.e. the top underwriter selected to manage the deal (so called because the firm’s name will appear on the top left corner of the papers). Along with Morgan Stanley, the four other firms expected to be appointed to handle the deal are Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and JP Morgan.

With its $5 billion worth IPO expectations, the social network started in 2004 belittles even Google, and almost all other IPOs before it. As a result of the far-reaching frenzy caused among investors and media, other players in the field of social networking from LinkedIn to the China-based RenRen have seen a boost in shares.

A fraction of small investors could be let in on a portion of shares, reported the Los Angeles Times. However, the report also quoted Kathleen Smith, a principal at Renaissance Capital saying "It's not like we're all going to open up our Facebook account and it'll be a little treasure box with a share of Facebook.”

The IFR also said that Facebook’s $5 billion deal was smaller than expected, but could be increased after decisions based on investor demand. If Facebook’s valuation touches the $100 billion mark, the social network’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg would be worth $24 billion, since he owns 24 percent of the company. The largest social network is expected to settle on a final pricing in not lesser than three months, but recent private exchanges dealing with Facebook’s stock point to an approximate valuation of $80 billion.