Google plans to list shares on Nasdaq

Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Google Inc. plans to list on the Nasdaq Stock Market for its impending initial public stock offering, according to a filing yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The $2.7 billion offering for the online search engine promises to make the biggest IPO splash yet in the post-dot-com era and is expected to give the Mountain View-based company a market value of at least $20 billion. Thirty brokerage houses have teamed up to facilitate the online public auction that Google plans to use to set its offering price.

Google officials did not specify a date for its IPO or a ticker symbol in the SEC filing.

The hotly anticipated IPO is expected to occur in late summer or early autumn, but Google spokeswoman Cindy McCaffrey declined to comment on the time frame or the company's Nasdaq decision.

The New York Stock Exchange issued a statement on Google's decision to go with its Wall Street rival. "Google is an outstanding company with a great management team, and we wish the company well with its initial public offering," it said.

Though many high-tech companies prefer the Nasdaq, industry analysts say the New York Stock Exchange clamored for the search engine giant. Besides its wide recognition, Google is highly profitable — earning $106 million on revenue of $982 million last year.

Google's upcoming IPO, which was announced in April, takes a less typical approach by relying on a public auction instead of institutional investors to determine the price of its initial shares.

The public offering is expected to draw intense interest from Main Street investors and add further momentum for the resurgent IPO market.

"This has had a bigger drum roll than any IPO we've ever seen," said Kathleen Smith, an analyst for Renaissance Capital, a Greenwich, Conn.-based firm that tracks the IPO market.

As of yesterday, 87 IPOs had been priced this year, surpassing the 68 deals completed in all of last year, according to Renaissance Capital.