Don't Be Evil: Google's 2004 Dutch Auction Initial Public Offering

What factors should an investment management firm consider when deciding whether and at what price to bid for Google shares in their unprecedented Dutch auction IPO?
Laurie Hodrick  | Fall 2009
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The Program for Financial Studies

It was Thursday, August 19, 2004, and after months of anticipation, trading of Google stock would finally begin this morning on the NASDAQ. Google offered a total of 19,605,052 Class A shares using a "modified" Dutch auction initial public offering (IPO), including 14,142,135 floated by Google and 5,462,917 from existing stockholders, at a price range of $85-$95 per share. In this case, students are charged with advising ReidCourt LLC as to whether it should bid to purchase Google shares in the IPO, and if so, at what price(s).

Case ID: 090327

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