Interpublic Sells Half Its Stake in Facebook

The Interpublic Group of Companies, which has owned a tiny stake in Facebook since the days the social networking Web site was just for college students, is selling half its holdings for a hefty profit.

Interpublic, which owns advertising and communications agencies like Deutsch, Initiative, McCann Erickson, Mullen and R/GA, acquired its ownership interest in Facebook in 2006. The interest, amounting to about 0.5 percent of Facebook’s total shares, was bought for less than $5 million. Facebook agreed to sell the shares to Interpublic in exchange for Interpublic’s agreeing to spend $10 million with Facebook for clients of its agencies. Michael I. Roth, chairman and chief executive at Interpublic, said the shares that are being sold would bring in “approximately $130 million.”