Google has set the pricing for its public flotation. Trading under the stock-ticker GOOG, the company will make 24.6 million shares available for between $108 and $135 a share, of which $14m represents new equity. This represents nine per cent of the company, a stake worth $2.6bn and $3.32bn, which values the company at a minimum of $24bn and as much as $36.25bn.

The flotation is designed to cede as little control as possible to the public, with voting stock confined to Class A shares. That decision has been hailed - by friends of the company in the technology press - as a method of keeping control with the founders, but condemned as a recipe for cronyism, by the business press. The Observer advised (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,1207729,00.html) them to start from scratch.

However, unlike dotcom era IPOs, Google is minting it in. The company announced that gross revenue for the last quarter was $700.2m, up from $656.1m in the preceding quarter. Declared revenues were up too, to $79.1m. However, the New York Times has pointed out that the profits are heavily camouflaged by stock options; and true profits are much higher. ®

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