WASHINGTON: Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin each plan to sell five million shares in the Internet giant, a move that would reduce their joint holdings to below 50 percent, according to a filing Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC filing said the stock sales, which will occur over the next five years, are part of a pre-determined stock trading plan set up by Page and Brin on November 30, 2009.

It said the Google co-founders currently hold about 57.7 million shares of Google stock, which represents 18 percent of Google's outstanding shares and 59 percent of the voting power.

Page and Brin each plan to sell five million shares, which would leave them with approximately 47.7 million shares or 15 percent of Google's outstanding shares and 48 percent of the voting power, the SEC filing said.

Although Page and Brin would no longer hold a majority of the voting power, their remaining holdings would allow them to continue to exert control over the Internet search and advertising giant.

The filing said the trading plan was adopted "to allow Larry and Sergey to sell a portion of their Google stock over time as part of their respective long-term strategies for individual asset diversification and liquidity.

"Using these plans, they can gradually diversify their investment portfolios and can spread stock trades out over an extended period of time to reduce market impact," it said.

Five million shares of Google is currently worth 2.75 billion dollars.

Google lost 5.66 percent to close at 550.01 dollars on Wall Street on Friday.