Facebook Inc., the social-networking website seeking to raise $5billion in an initial public offering, will pay underwriters a 1.1percent fee, two people with knowledge of the company's planssaid.

The fee will be shared among Facebook's underwriters, said thepeople, who asked not to be named because the details are private.Facebook has hired 31 banks to manage the IPO, including MorganStanley as lead underwriter. The lead bank typically earns a biggercut of the total.

At 1.1 percent, the company will be paying its banks aboutone-fifth the typical rate for IPOs. The sale would be the biggestoffering on record for an Internet company and may value Facebookat $75 billion to $100 billion, people familiar with the situationhave said.

Underwriters were paid an average of 5.48 percent in 127offerings last year, Bloomberg data show. With larger IPOs, bankscan often afford to take a smaller percentage fee, and high-profileofferings such as Facebook can lead to future business, makingsecurities firms willing to accept less.

Jonathan Thaw, a spokesman for Facebook, declined tocomment.

The banks Facebook named last month to handle the deal includedMorgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc and Allen & Co. This month,Facebook expanded the list to include Deutsche Bank AG, CreditSuisse Group AG and Citigroup Inc. Smaller banks were added aswell, such as M.R. Beal & Co., Muriel Siebert & Co. andWilliam Blair & Co.

The role Mark Zuckerberg will play in marketing the offeringhasn't been determined, said a person with knowledge of the matter.The company's 27-year-old co-founder and chief executive officerdidn't attend a meeting yesterday that served as a precursor to theIPO's so-called roadshow, said the person, who asked not beidentified as the matter is private.

That left Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's operating chief, and DavidEbersman, the chief financial officer, to answer questions fromanalysts and bankers. The company, which held the event at itsheadquarters in Menlo Park, California, will probably have anothermeeting with analysts next month, the person said.

The company also hasn't decided yet whether it will offerfinancial guidance to analysts, according to the person. At theevent, executives emphasized that the company is focused on thelong term and well positioned for growth, the person said.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported on Zuckerbergmissing the analyst meeting. Executives at the event said he wouldbe focused more on developing Facebook's service, the Journalreported.

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