Facebook is “seriously mulling” raising another round of financing that would be “quite large” and well beyond its last round of $25 million, Kara Swisher at All Things Digital reports. Another round would likely value the hot social network at something near what its founders believe Facebook is worth — multi-billions.

Who and how much remains unclear, but a cash infusion would help the company make acquisitions and expand operations, possibly internationally, Swisher reports, citing unnamed sources. Facebook also gets to pick the prettiest partner at the dance, among them maybe Microsoft, which reportedly offered to buy them for $6 billion. That’s not without some concern:

But some close to Facebook worry that aligning itself so closely with the software giant is a mistake… In any case, given the heat surrounding the company, there are not any lack of moneybag suitors, all waiting to rain down copious cash on (CEO Mark) Zuckerberg and his team.

Does this mean an IPO won’t come until well past 2009? What businesses could make likely acquisition targets for the company that was itself the prey not so long ago? All this confirms what everyone else has been saying over the past few months. Facebook is not for sale yet, quite the contrary.

This, from News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin in an interview with Reuters: I think Mark Zuckerberg is doing just fine. I don’t think he has any intention of selling it, IPO’ing it, or anything else.

(All Things Digital) (Paidcontent.org)

Keep an eye on:

• News Corp won’t pull TV shows off iTunes. In an interview with Reuters in Warsaw, News Corp. COO Peter Chernin tells us the company has no plans to follow its Hulu joint venture partner, NBC Universal, out Apple’s doors. (Reuters)
• Dow Jones Union Talking Strike Vote in Wake of Final Contract Offer - Labor woes on tap for Rupert Murdoch? After months of negotiations, some Dow Jones newsroom workers are demanding a vote to strike. ((E&P)
• Carlyle Pulls Insight Sale To Wait for a Better Time The Carlyle Group has shelved the sale of Insight Communications Co in hopes of getting a higher price later. (WSJ) (Reuters)
• Time magazine to fight an Indonesian Supreme Court libel ruling in favor of former President Suharto, which ordered the U.S. weekly to pay more than $100 million in damages and print apologies, Time’s lawyer said. (Reuters)
• XM drops Tyra, Ellen - XM Satellite Radio will be making various changes to their News and Talk offerings, including dropping brand-name talent like Ellen DeGeneres and Tyra Banks, within the next two weeks. (Orbitcast)
• Apple Eyes Wireless Auction - Google isn’t the only interesting potential bidder for the U.S. govermnment’s pending auction of wireless spectrum. The iPhone maker may join the FCC’s auction of rights to use the spectrum that analog TV broadcasters are handing back to the government in 2009. (BusinessWeek)
• iPhone inventory malfunction - Stephen Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, thinks Apple’s decision to cut the iPhone’s price sharply only two months after going on sale “an accidental error”, and says Apple has a “large inventory and they are set up to build more than they have sold.” (IBC)