Google considers going public

SAN JOSE: Sergey Brin, co-founder of Internet search provider Google, said that the company has weighed the possibility of a public stock offer but added Google is not rushing any plans for one.

"It's something that we debate periodically at board meetings - not every board meeting - every other or every third," Brin said at Jupitermedia Corp.'s Search Engine Strategies Conference this week in San Jose.

"I think there's a good chance eventually we will. It's never the most pressing thing," he added.

According to published reports, analysts and industry watchers, the privately held Silicon Valley company is expected have revenues of close to $1 billion this year. The Google name has become synonymous with Internet searches, and a possible initial public offering would be one of the most anticipated since the go-go days of the dot-com boom.

Brin, who is also president, technology, said Google is profitable and added the company at the moment, was not pressed for the cash that initial public offerings generate.

"It might be nice to have some degree of currency to do acquisitions and things like that. On the other hand, there are significant management distractions involved in being a public company, so it's always kind of a toss-up," he said.

Among the distractions, Google executives have pointed out, are frequent meetings with Wall Street bankers, analysts and other financial industry players, as well as the requirement that a company publicly disclose financial information.

Potentially at risk with an IPO could be Google's serendipitous culture, which has been viewed as a key factor in fostering its creativity and success.

As the search industry consolidates and as Google's key rival Overture Services Inc. prepares to merge with Internet media company Yahoo Inc., speculation has raged over whether Google will tie up with a big player such as Microsoft Corp.'s Internet property MSN.

Brin said suitors have approached Google on numerous occasions. "We've always said no, thus far," he added.

"We think our company has a lot of promise. We're pleased with the trajectory that we're on and so it's not a very likely thing to happen in my mind. But, it would be silly to discount any serious approach from anyone," he said.

© Reuters