This has been in the works for a while and now drum beats suggest it’s close at hand. LinkedIn, the big business networking site, is close to or has raised a major late-stage round. VentueBeat first reported the raise (though the report is fairly vague), and TechCrunch says the company is looking for a round that would value the company at $1 billion. Again, it’s still not clear whether the dotted line has been signed, or is close. The raise follows some big rounds from Meebo, Ning and Slide—relative to those three, LinkedIn is the furthest along in developing a business model, and consequently, it’s talked about as a legitimate IPO candidate. But given the frailty of the public markets, and the presumptive recession, it makes sense for the company to raise its ‘nuclear winter’ round.

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The firm, which has raised over $27 million, has said it would have revenue of $100 million for 2008.