NEWS Google has set the long-awaited pricing range for its initial public offering, putting itself in line to raise as much as $3.3bn, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
The search giant set a price range of $108 to $135 a share, according to the filing. Based on those per-share numbers and the expected issuance of 24.6 million shares, the search giant hopes to raise between $2.7bn and $3.3bn. That would make it one of the largest-ever IPOs.
The company also plans to trade under the ticker 'GOOG', according to the filing. Google has already said that it plans to trade on the Nasdaq exchange.
No date has been set yet for the IPO.
In Monday's SEC filing, Google also revealed recent financial results, a key step in preparing for the stock offering. During the six months ended 30 June, Google posted revenue of $1.4bn, up from $560m in the same period a year ago.
The company's net income jumped to $143m in the six-month period, compared with $58m a year earlier.
The public offering is expected to take place via a Dutch auction, which means investors will offer a bid price for the number of desired shares. The final IPO price will be based on the lowest bid price received that would result in the sales of all 24.6 million shares.
The three-figure price range may not sit well with some potential investors, one analyst said.
David Menlow, president of IPO Financial Network, a research firm, said: "This $108 to $135 price range is a very high share price to drop in the average investor's lap. Institutional investors, if they feel the offering is fairly valued, don't have a problem investing $200 a share in an IPO. But for the mom-and-pop investor, it's a psychological barrier to pay $108 to $135 to buy a share of stock."
Menlow added, however, that it's unlikely Google's IPO will sell for less than $100 a share.
Dawn Kawamoto writes for CNET News.com
