Investors Rush to Buy Another $4.2 Billion in Google Stock - New York Times

Investors Rush to Buy Another $4.2 Billion in Google Stock - New York Times: "The secondary offering appeared to be as smooth as Google's initial offering was tumultuous. When it went public, the company chose an unusual computerized auction process that confused many potential investors.
Its prospectus was filled with unusual phrases, like the company's credo 'don't be evil.'
Its roadshow had so little information that some investors were offended. Ultimately, the offering was completed at $85 a share, raising $2 billion, much less than the company had initially hoped for.
The secondary offering, by contrast, was a traditional one in which sales representatives from brokerage firms took orders from investors largely by telephone. And its prospectus had less bravado and only the typical warnings and disclosures.
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In the prospectus, the company said it would use the money for "general corporate purposes" and possibly acquisitions.
Google did show a slide that compared the $7 billion in cash it will have after the offering with the cash balances of its major rivals. Yahoo currently has about $4 billion in cash, and Microsoft has $49 billion."