Google IPO rumours gather pace
19 April 2004
Rumours are circulating on the internet that Google will be required to begin filing financial reports with the SEC in the United States from April 30th.
The Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 requires companies that have $10 million or more in assets and 500 or more shareholders, including employees who hold stock options, to file quarterly reports with the SEC just as a publicly traded company does.
Google's profits are thought to be $100 million or more and the company is believed to have granted stock options to most of its more than 1,000 employees.
Analysts are now predicting that this requirement will spur Google on to file an initial public offering (IPO).
Reporting companies must disclose the same information to federal regulators as publicly traded companies, including assets, liabilities, operating expenses and partnerships, but they do not trade their shares on the Nasdaq or New York stock exchanges.
Google officials have refused to comment on the speculation but many believe that, if the privately held Mountain View company is forced to reveal its financial secrets at the end of the month, then an IPO will follow.
Filing as a privately held company represents the worst of both worlds for the firm and rumours of Google planning an IPO have been surfacing for months. Experts believe that Google has triggered the requirements to become a "publicly reporting" company.
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