Monday, March 01, 2004
Design of possible Google IPO closely watched
It's not just when Google's much-anticipated IPO will take place that's got investors crazed. They're also clamoring to know how the deal will be done.
There is lots of talk on Wall Street that the Internet search engine won't go the traditional route of just letting investment banks divvy up their IPO's shares, which they then routinely dole out to favored clients.
Instead, Google may put some stock up for auction, allowing average investors a rare chance of getting shares.
While going that route could open the door to the masses, it has its risks.
Auctions ``sound like they have a great deal of appeal, but whether they work as well as advertised is another story,'' said Jeremy Dickens, co-head of the global capital markets practice at the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
When -- and even if -- the Google IPO will actually happen is still an unknown. There is some thought that it will go this year, possibly even sometime this spring, but the company has yet to confirm any details.
Should it happen, it would be the biggest IPO since the late 1990s, not just in terms of the amount of money it could raise -- which has been estimated at around $4 billion -- but also for its name recognition among investors.
Anyone who uses the Internet knows the Google brand, which is now synonymous with looking things up. ``Googling'' information has become so popular that its site is among the most-visited on the Web.
It's not just when Google's much-anticipated IPO will take place that's got investors crazed. They're also clamoring to know how the deal will be done.
There is lots of talk on Wall Street that the Internet search engine won't go the traditional route of just letting investment banks divvy up their IPO's shares, which they then routinely dole out to favored clients.
Instead, Google may put some stock up for auction, allowing average investors a rare chance of getting shares.
While going that route could open the door to the masses, it has its risks.
Auctions ``sound like they have a great deal of appeal, but whether they work as well as advertised is another story,'' said Jeremy Dickens, co-head of the global capital markets practice at the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
When -- and even if -- the Google IPO will actually happen is still an unknown. There is some thought that it will go this year, possibly even sometime this spring, but the company has yet to confirm any details.
Should it happen, it would be the biggest IPO since the late 1990s, not just in terms of the amount of money it could raise -- which has been estimated at around $4 billion -- but also for its name recognition among investors.
Anyone who uses the Internet knows the Google brand, which is now synonymous with looking things up. ``Googling'' information has become so popular that its site is among the most-visited on the Web.
