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From DealBook | With the news that Groupon’s board has authorized the daily deal site to raise up to $950 million in funding, many investors and analysts are now debating what exactly Groupon is worth. The venture capital data provider VC Experts estimates that the new round of fundraising values Groupon at $6.4 billion, while TechCrunch, citing an unnamed source, pegs it at a more modest $4.75 billion.
Groupon’s board has authorized the company to raise up to $950 million in what would be the biggest round of equity financing since Pixar sought some $500 million in 1995, the venture capital data firm VC Experts said on Tuesday.
The online discount coupon company, which specializes in local advertising, is seeking the funding after reports last month that it was in talks to sell itself to Google for up to $6 billion, in what would have been the web advertising giant’s biggest ever acquisition. Get the full story »
What does Chicago have that no other U.S. city has this holiday season? The top two busiest coupon Web sites.
Top ranked was Groupon, the daily deal site, with 10 million unique visitors in November, up 54 percent over the previous month, according to online research firm ComScore Inc. Second was CouponCabin, a coupon-code aggregator, with 8.8 million visitors, a 400 percent increase over October.
Coupon sites, which offer promotional codes and other discounts to consumers, ranked as the top-gaining category of Web sites at the start of the holiday season, ComScore said. A record 44 million Americans visited a coupon site during November, up 40 percent since October. Get the full story »
Groupon CEO Andrew Mason. (Brian Cassella, Chicago Tribune)
Google is in talks with smaller players in the online discount coupon market after Groupon turned down the web giant’s $6 billion buyout offer, the New York Post said, citing a source close to the situation.
Groupon’s smaller rivals LivingSocial and BuyWithMe may now be on Google’s radar after Groupon deal fell through, the Post said.
BuyWithMe interim President David Wolfe, who declined to comment on whether he was speaking to Google, told the Post that he believes Google needs to enter the coupon advertising market. Get the full story »
Groupon has brought in a former Amazon.com Inc executive as its new chief financial officer, the discount coupon provider said.
Jason Child, a former vice president of finance for Amazon’s international business, took on the new role with Groupon on Monday. Get the full story »
Chicago-based Groupon.com, the fast-growing social networking site that offers its users daily discounts to businesses in their individual markets, has entered into a partnership with Chicago Tribune Media Group’s recently launched e-commerce site.
From Chicago Real Estate Daily | Chicago-based daily deal company Groupon plans to expand its headquarters at 600 W. Chicago Ave. by about 57,000 square feet.
Groupon CEO Andrew Mason speaks at the company's headquarters on Aug. 31, 2010. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
By Melissa Harris and Wailin Wong
The deal didn’t tip after all.
Chicago-based Groupon Inc. has turned down an acquisition offer from Google Inc. and is staying independent, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said Friday.
The two companies had been engaged in talks, with speculation about the marriage reaching a fever pitch over the last week. Mountain View, Calif.-based Google reportedly had offered between $5 billion and $6 billion for the daily deal start-up. Get the full story »
EBay Inc. said Monday that it has begun listing Groupon.com’s daily deals and allowing its members to collect and redeem points from purchases they make, in a move that will increase eBay’s presence in the fast growing group buying segment. Get the full story »
Chicago-based social commerce company Groupon said Thursday that it is extending its daily deal model to The McClatchy Co., the country’s third-largest newspaper publisher.
Under the agreement between, Groupon will provide exclusive content to McClatchy’s Web sites, including deals not available on Groupon.com. Get the full story »
