In an August 16 posting on its IPO website www.ipo.google.com, Google and its underwriters notified investors they had requested that the Securities and Exchange Commission declare the company's IPO registration statement effective at 4 p.m. on August 17.
The request, coming on the first business day after the bidding opened on August 13, suggests that Google’s much-anticipated auction already may be oversubscribed at a price in the target range of $108 to $130 a share, which would fetch Google between $2.8 billion and $3.3 billion, the biggest initial public offering for an Internet company.
Google spokesman David Krane declined to say, however, whether Google would disclose that price on August 17 or on August 18 when the stock is expected to make its market debut under the symbol "GOOG" on the Nasdaq exchange. Once the SEC declares the registration statement effective at 4 p.m., Google could begin accepting bids an hour later. Accepted bids at or above the company's IPO price will get the shares, all at the same price.
