Some of the sexiest dot-com names are gearing up for their publicly traded close-ups.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Groupon is narrowing down its list of lead underwriters. Sources claim the social coupon juggernaut is aiming for a third-quarter IPO.
Facebook, Twitter, and Farmville parent Zynga may not go public until next year, but investor enthusiasm is already building.
Investors hoping to score a piece of these dynamic Web 2.0 darlings before they go public have limited options. Private stock marketplaces like SecondMarket.com are an option, but the markups on available shares can get ridiculous. It's also nearly impossible to get in on early financing rounds unless you're a well-heeled venture capitalist.
Fancy a mutual fund, instead?
T. Rowe Price
It's been funneling investments in many of the market's most anticipated offerings and allocating those stakes within several of its funds. There are two T. Rowe Price funds in particular that have some intriguing positions as of the end of March.
T. Rowe Price Science & Technology Fund
- Angie's List-0.256% of total assets
- Facebook-0.354%
- Groupon-0.422%
- Twitter-0.633%
T. Rowe Price Global Technology
- Angie's List-0.488% of total assets
- Facebook-0.349%
- Groupon-0.330%
- Twitter-0.316%
- Zynga-0.217%
T. Rowe also joined Amazon.com
Both funds also have small stakes in smart-grid specialist Silver Spring Networks. They also had positions in leading Chinese video-sharing site Youku.com
The rub, of course, is that these investments may not move the needle within diversified mutual funds. None of these holdings make up more than 1% of their respective portfolios. The now hot IPO can also cool off in a hurry. However, after seeing recent Chinese IPO's Qihoo 360