Google Traders See Opportunity in Confusion on New Shares
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Google Inc.’s strategy to cement control for its founders by creating a third common equity class drew a lawsuit from institutional investors. Now it’s piquing the interest of equity traders.
The biggest search-engine operator will effectively split its stock when more than 330 million nonvoting Class C shares hit the market on April 3, ending a process that began two years ago. The most likely outcome is that Google’s share price falls by half and the new series trades in lockstep with the old, according to Jeffrey Burchell, co-chief investment officer of Aston Hill Financial Inc. in Toronto. Still, he’ll be on the lookout for signs of confusion in the marketplace.