New Google website for share sale

[anebg]

New Google website for share sale


Web search engine Google has opened a website where prospective US investors can register to bid for its shares.
The site www.ipo.google.com has gone live, where bidders can apply to get an identification number to participate in the initial public offering (IPO).

Earlier this week, Google estimated its stock would sell for between $108 and $135 a share, a price that would value the firm at as much as $36bn (£19.7bn).

The six-year-old Californian company is the world's most popular search engine.

Nasdaq listing

The "Dutch auction" process used to sell the shares is designed to put small investors on a more even footing with big institutional funds and influential investors, who have traditionally been given better access to IPOs.

Potential investors submit bids that include the price they are willing to pay and the number of shares they are willing to buy.

It is expected that the auction process, which is open to US resident citizens only, will be completed by the middle of August.

After Google's auction is completed, the shares will begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market under the ticker symbol 'GOOG'.

Garage launch

Google plans to sell 14.1 million shares itself, with another 10.5 million to be sold by existing shareholders.

The 24.6 million shares being sold in the IPO represent 9% of the company's total shares.

Also on Google's new auction website is a video presentation by Google's management, including founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

The prospectus, as well as a slide presentation and financial information from Securities and Exchange Commission filings, are also available on the new page.

Google was launched from a Californian garage on 7 September 1998 by Stanford University post-graduates Page and Brin.

The search engine gets 200 million queries a day.