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Facebook IPO could be delayed beyond next week

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not yet officially signed off on Facebook's registration statement, a development that could delay the company's initial public offering of stock, CNBC reported Friday.

Shares still could go on sale to the public Friday as expected, but the date is not yet certain, CNBC's Julia Boorstin reported from Palo Alto, Calif. She cited sources within Facebook who said the company had not yet gotten approval for the document, known as an S-1.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives met with about 200 prospective investors Friday at hotel luncheon in Silicon Valley, one of the last big "roadshow" events planned in advance of the IPO.

Zuckerberg laid out his 2012 goals, saying his first priority was improving the social network's mobile application, Reuters reported.

If all goes well, the offering would be priced Thursday afternoon and begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq stock market under the ticker symbol "FB." The offering could value the company at nearly $100 billion.

The offering, expected to generate about $10.6 billion for Facebook and selling shareholders, would dwarf the coming-out parties of tech companies like Google.

On Thursday, a source close to the process told Reuters the IPO was already oversubscribed.

Zuckerberg made brief introductory comments at Friday's event, which took place eight miles from Facebook's new Menlo Park headquarters located at One Hacker Way, before opening the session up to questions.

The company had provoked some grumbles from investors earlier this week, when it took limited questions from the audience at an event in New York.

Investors managed to get in more than 10 questions Friday, ranging from capital spending to regulatory issues, even as Facebook maintained tight control over the proceedings, forbidding questioners from asking follow-up questions.

Zuckerberg was asked about Facebook's $1 billion acquisition of mobile app maker Instagram, the largest deal in Facebook's history. The deal was forged over a weekend, according to media reports.

Zuckerberg said the company had been thinking about buying Instagram for one to two months before the deal occurred. And he noted that the number of Instagram users has already increased from 30 million to 50 million since the deal was announced.

(The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.)

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