Google to Start Buyback of 23.4 Million Shares

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Google to Start Buyback of 23.4 Million Shares
Tuesday November 30, 10:50 AM EST
A Wall Street Journal Online News Roundup

Google Inc. (GOOG) said it will start its repurchase offer today for the 23.4 million shares and additional options the Internet-search company may have issued improperly.

Google said in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the offer to buy back the shares and options from current and former employees and consultants will expire Dec. 30.

In addition to its offer to repurchase 23.4 million shares of its common stock, Google also is offering to buy back unexercised options to purchase about 5.22 million common shares. The repurchase price for the shares ranges from 30 cents to $80 a share and is equal to the price paid by those people who purchased the shares, the company said. The repurchase price for unexercised options is 20% of the per-share exercise price multiplied by the number of shares subject to the options, it said.

Shares of the company closed Monday at $181.05 each, up $1.66, or 0.9%, on the day.

Google disclosed in August that federal regulators were investigating the company for issuing millions of shares and options to employees in the years leading up to its initial public offering of stock. The Mountain View, Calif., company had warned in its IPO documents that it may have violated securities laws when it failed to register the stock and option awards with regulators. The grants were made between September 2001 and July 2004.

Google said it would offer to repurchase the shares and options at the price at which they were sold, plus interest, to remedy the situation. The shares were sold to 1,105 employees, while the options are held by 301 people.