Posts Tagged ‘group buying’

Groupon, the daily deals startup that famously turned down a $6 billion acquisition offer by Google, is facing a potential class action lawsuit that alleges the company of selling coupons with illegal expiration dates.

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LivingSocial made a killing in January by offering $20 Amazon gift card for $10. The offer went out to millions of LivingSocial members across 89 markets and resulted in sale of 1.4 million vouchers, an insane amount of media coverage and a huge spike in traffic.

Groupon’s Japanese sales are showing clear signs that the Osechi incident has really dented its reputation in Japan, so much so that users are backing away from other group dealing sites as well.

Groupon’s appetite for buying clones has no end in site, especially with rumours that a possible deal with Chinese internet giant Tencent that could see Groupon enter crack a market where both Facebook and Google failed.

Watch out Groupon! Competitor LivingSocial announced today it would be expanding in Europe by buying Let’s Bonus, a Barcelona-based group buying site.

After walking away from a Google buyout offer last year, group buying service Groupon announced that it has raised $950 million dollars in new venture funding.

The Chicago-based Groupon, dubbed by Forbes “the fastest growing company ever,” serves up steep daily discounts from local businesses that can only be redeemed if a certain number of users opt in to them. Since its launch in 2008, the company has attracted more than 50 million users, and grown by a whopping 2,500% in 2010.

Google reportedly offered $6 billion for the company at the end of last year. The new round of funding puts the company’s value at around $4.75 billion; in line with an estimate by NYPPEX, which estimates the value of privately held companies.

The company said that it would be using this latest round of investments to develop new technology, enter new markets, and pay out earlier investors and employees. The latest round of backers include Silicon Valley-based Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

“With their support, we will continue on our mission to change the way people shop locally and serve the world’s local businesses,” said Groupon CEO Andrew Mason in a statement.

Groupon has already made good on its promise to expand by buying SoSasta.com, a group buying site in India. The company began entering overseas markets last year, launching or buying group buying operations in 34 countries.

The high flying Groupon has also attracted institutional investors such as Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, and Morgan Stanley, and could go public by the end of the year, according to the New York Times.

Groupon has named former Amazon exec as their new CFO. With this recent leadership acquisition and rumors of additional venture funding, watchers say an IPO is on its way.

The blog world is abuzz with the news that Google has almost certainly purchased GroupOn for $2.5 Billion, which is a ludicrously high amount. We look at the news and sources below.

The rumor mill has been churning since Friday’s report by Kara Swisher of All Things Digital that Groupon had entered discussions with Google about a possible buyout. We take a look at what talks of a buyout like this says about the local group buying market, and why Google would be expressing such an interest below.

Google is in negotiations with group shopping startup Groupon over a possible buyout, according to a report Friday.

The asking price is well above the $2-3 billion rumored to have been offered by Yahoo earlier this year, according to sources cited by Kara Swisher, co-editor of Wall Street Journal-owned AllThingsD.com. Negotiations are apparently in the early stages, and both Google and Groupon refused to comment on what Google’s spokesperson called “rumor” and “speculation.”

The Chicago-based Groupon serves up steep daily discounts from local businesses that can only be redeemed if a certain number of users opt in to them. Since its launch in 2008, the wildly popular Groupon has attracted $170 million in venture funding, and expanded its business into Europe, Asia and South America. In its last round of funding back in April, Russian VC firm Digital Sky Technologies and California-based Battery Ventures valued the company at around $1.35 billion.

Groupon says that customers have purchased almost $17 million “Groupons” since 2008, and offered discounts totaling $725 million. The service has continued to outpace competitors and expand, despite criticism of its business model.

The company introduced mobile applications in March, and has also explored deals with newspaper publishers who are hunting for ways to replace shrinking classified ad revenue.