Google Inc is amassing cash overseas to help finance a foreign shopping spree that could cost the Internet company up to US$30 billion.
The potential price tag for Google’s expansion plans outside the US surfaced on Tuesday in documents disclosing the company’s response to recent questions raised by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Pressed to provide more details about its plans for its overseas cash, Google revealed that US$20 billion to US$30 billion is earmarked for the acquisition of foreign companies and technology rights held outside the US. The Mountain View, California, company did not specify a timetable for completing the deals or mention any acquisition candidates.
Google nearly pulled off a major acquisition late last year, according to the letter to the SEC. The company said it was in talks to buy a foreign company before abandoning the negotiations shortly before writing the Dec. 20 letter. Although the letter is five months old, the SEC did not release it until Tuesday.
Google declined to comment on the letter.
Had the potential deal mentioned in the SEC letter been completed, it would have eclipsed Google’s largest foreign acquisition so far — last year’s US$1 billion purchase of Waze, a digital mapping service based in Israel.
Google has spent about US$27 billion buying other companies, primarily in the US, during the past decade. Its biggest acquisition so far has been Motorola Mobility, a cellphone maker snapped up for US$12.4 billion two years ago. Google is now in the process of selling Motorola’s phone business to Lenovo Group (聯想) for US$2.9 billion in a deal that still requires regulatory approval.
Besides buying foreign companies, Google may also spend about US$4 billion buying offices and data centers outside the US, according to its explanation to the SEC.
Google’s overseas cash totaled US$34.5 billion through March. Another US$25 billion is held in the US.
Like many other large technology companies, Google has been criticized for keeping money overseas to avoid paying US taxes. Lawmakers in Britain and France have also lashed out at Google for avoiding taxes in their countries by booking revenue in Ireland, where tax rates are lower.
Google has steadfastly maintained that all of its financial reporting complies with tax laws around the world.
Most of Google’s revenue comes from outside the US.
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