A few weeks ago, I was out with a few friends and the topic of the forthcoming Google IPO came up. Specifically, the question: how does one go about buying a share in the much-talked about auction? This morning, Dow Jones newswires provided some insight:
As for the Google deal, every major Wall Street investment bank, with the exception of Bear Stearns Cos., was listed in the amended filing as a member of the underwriting group. The filing isn't a final registration statement for the IPO, and additional underwriters could be added. .... No matter how miffed they are, few firms can afford to pass on the syndicate. Customers are clamoring for shares of the most anticipated IPO since the dot-com bubble burst four years ago, and to bid in the initial auction investors they must have accounts at firms underwriting the deal. (They also must have access to a computer, since required prospectuses will be sent by e-mail under rules set by Google.)
According to Dow Jones newswires, in addition to Morgan and CSFB, the underwriters, in the order listed in the new filing, are:
Allen & Co.; Citigroup Global Markets Inc.; Goldman, Sachs & Co.; J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.; Lehman Brothers Inc.; UBS Securities LLC; Thomas Weisel Partners LLC; WR Hambrecht + Co.; Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.; Lazard Freres & Co. LLC; Merrill Lynch & Co.; Ameritrade Inc.; M.R. Beal & Co.; William Blair & Co.; Blaylock & Partners LP; Cazenove & Co.; E*Trade Securities LLC; Epoch Securities Inc.; Fidelity Capital Markets, a division of Fidelity Investments' National Financial Services; HARRISdirect LLC; Needham & Co.; Piper Jaffray & Co.; Samuel A. Ramirez & Co.; RBC Capital Markets Corp.; Muriel Siebert & Co.; SunTrust Robinson Humphrey; Utendahl Capital Partners LP.; Wachovia Capital Markets LLC; and Wells Fargo Securities.
...
Google mania has swept through the popular media. CNet News compiled a roundup of some of the more interesting media coverage of the Google IPO recently. And last week, the McPaper itself came to the rescue of novice investors everywhere and told them how to prepare for the Google IPO.
Related Links
Read up before jumping on Google IPO (USA Today)
A walk through Google's S-1 (USA Today)
Amazing. I didn't see the print edition but I half expect it was one of those special pull-out editions.
I am reminded by a quote I saw recently: "The valuations being bandied around in the media are staggeringly ludicrous and cannot be sustained by a rational market." -- Melanie Hollands, principal of Koala Capital
There is such a hype surrounding this event. One opportunistic entrepreneur is doing his part, having launchd a site dedicated to the Google IPO. The site, google-ipo.com, begins thus: "Seldom has a financial event been so eagerly awaited by the investing world..."
Seldom has it smelled so much like 1999.
