Google considers online auction of IPO shares

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By Richard Waters in San Francisco
Published: October 23 2003 21:51 | Last Updated: October 23 2003 21:51

Google is considering holding a massive online auction of shares early next year in an initial public offering that investment bankers predict could value the internet search-engine company at more than $15bn.

An electronic auction would be designed to prevent a recurrence of the sort of financial scandals that have engulfed Wall Street since the collapse of the dotcom bubble, according to a person close to the company.

It could also slash the underwriting fees paid to investment banks, the person added, and in the process help to break Wall Street's hold on the lucrative IPO business.

A Google IPO has been one of the most eagerly anticipated events on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley since the dotcom bust. Though only five years old, the search-engine company has avoided the traps that caught many early dotcom companies.

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