Google yesterday hung out a suggested price tag of up to $36.25 billion (€29.8 billion) as it entered the final stages of the most eagerly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) in years.

The internet search engine company's assessment of its maximum value topped most informal Wall Street estimates, though the final price could rise much higher thanks to a ground-breaking auction process that will be used to sell the stock.

Yesterday's announcement came as a virus overwhelmed Google's search engine, stopping it working for several hours.

The virus also targeted three other search engines, including Yahoo.

The euphoria over Google's IPO is likely to be tempered by news yesterday of an unexpected slowdown in the company's huge growth rate in recent months. The company blamed the slowdown on seasonal factors, suggesting that its core business of selling advertising linked to search engine results was maturing more quickly than many had thought.

Google said it expected its shares to sell for $108-$135 each, valuing the company at $29 billion-$36.25 billion. At the highest level it would be worth only about $1 billioless than Yahoo, the bigger internet portal company it most closely resembles.

Google had hoped to complete the sale of its stock this month but the deal is now expected to be finalised next month.

The company's use of an auction to sell its shares has become a divisive issue on Wall Street where some bankers and analysts argue that it will result in an unrealistically high price being set for the stock.

In a traditional IPO, a company and its bankers agree on the initial price for the shares, even if this is below the level that could be obtained for the most sought-after IPOs.

An auction, however, guarantees that the highest possible price will be set, unless Google uses an override clause that lets it apply a discount.

People familiar with the company's thinking say it does not plan to do this.

This means that the Google IPO "is being priced to the expectations and the hype, rather than the substance of a financial model," said Mr David Menlo of IPO Financial Network, which tracks new stocks on Wall Street. As a result, the shares could fall once trading began, he said.