The birth of a new corporate parent for Google Inc. excited both tech and transactional nerds this week—not to mention buoying investors hoping to learn more about the sources of Google’s revenue. Google turned to longtime adviser Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton for legal counsel on the restructuring, which will split up the company’s many projects—including its core Google search business—under the umbrella of a single newly formed holding company called Alphabet. Alphabet will be publicly traded, with Google shares converting to those of the holding company.
Over the years Cleary Gottlieb’s work for Google has included advising the technology titan on its $12.5 billion buy of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. in 2011, its $2.35 billion sale of Motorola Home Business in 2012 and its $1 billion acquisition of Waze in 2013.
