Dec. 21, 2010 at 9:31 a.m.
Filed under:
Internet,
M&A,
Technology
By Reuters
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 »
Dec. 20, 2010 at 11:55 a.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Personnel moves,
Updated
By Reuters
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 »
Dec. 8, 2010 at 3:29 p.m.
Filed under:
Internet,
Real estate
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.
Dec. 3, 2010 at 6:04 p.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
IPOs,
Internet,
M&A,
Startups,
Technology
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 »
Dec. 2, 2010 at 5:25 p.m.
Filed under:
Investing,
Venture capital
By Wailin Wong
LivingSocial, a deal-of-the-day company that’s seen as one of Groupon’s biggest rivals, said Thursday it has received a $175 million investment from e-commerce giant Amazon.
The Washington, D.C.-based start-up’s latest round of funding also included another $8 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners of Menlo Park, Calif. Lightspeed had previously led a $14 million round of funding for LivingSocial in April. Before that, the daily deal site had conducted two other rounds totaling $30 million.
LivingSocial said it plans to use the money for expansion. The daily deal site is in more than 120 markets, including cities in Europe and Australia, and projects its 2011 revenue at more than $500 million. Get the full story »
June 7, 2010 at 5:17 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing
By Wailin Wong
| Another Web-based group buying service has launched in Chicago, joining an increasingly crowded field pioneered by local start-up Groupon.
New York-based KGB, the company behind an eponymous text-message answer service, officially launched KGB Deals in Chicago and six other cities on Monday. Like other group buying sites, KGB will offer a daily deal for a local business. The offer is activated when a minimum number of people sign up for it. The inaugural Chicago deal is for $4 tickets to any AMC theater and covers the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.
Get the full story »
June 2, 2010 at 5:25 p.m.
Filed under:
M&A
By Wailin Wong | A Seattle-based company announced Wednesday that it has acquired Chicago’s Chitown Deals, a sign that the fast-growing number of daily deal Web sites has primed the industry for consolidation.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Tippr, the Seattle company, has rolled out its group-buying model to 10 U.S. cities, including Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Tippr kept Chitown Deals’ original branding and community on the local company’s website.
Chicago-based Groupon, the leader in the daily deal space, acquired a European rival earlier this month.
May 28, 2010 at 10:07 a.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Small business
From Bloomberg | One of the challenges facing Chicago-based Groupon Inc., which offers a daily deal to consumers in more than 140 cities, is that the site’s coupon-wielding hordes can overwhelm small businesses, rankling partners and customers alike. Overcoming those glitches will be key to helping Groupon maintain growth, hang on to its $1.35 billion valuation and possibly move toward an initial public offering. The company is making an effort to ensure that business partners aren’t overrun with customers, said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason.
Get the full story: bloomberg.com.
May 4, 2010 at 11:04 a.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Internet
Andrew Mason and his company Groupon have inspired clones and aggregators throughout the U.S. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
By Wailin Wong
| Chicago-based Groupon, the Web-based daily deal service, has inspired
dozens of clones. Now the number of Groupon-like websites has spurred
growth in an ancillary industry: deal aggregators.
Chicago-based Dealradar.com announced Tuesday that it has renamed and
overhauled its site, which was launched in February as Local Offer
Lounge. Dealradar covers daily deals from more than 80 websites in about
60 cities, including Chicago. According to Dealradar, some cities have
so many competing services that their residents would have to read at
least 15 e-mails every day to keep current on all the daily local
offers.
Get the full story »
March 11, 2010 at 9:57 a.m.
Filed under:
Internet,
Venture capital
By Wailin Wong |
The competition between daily-deal Web sites continues to heat up, as Washington D.C.-based LivingSocial said Thursday it has raised $25 million in funding and launched in Chicago.
The leader in the daily-deal space is Chicago-based Groupon, which secured $30 million in funding in December and is active in nearly 40 cities. A number of competitors have sprung up over recent months. Many of them modeled their deals after Groupon, which requires a minimum amount of people to participate in an offer before it’s activated.
Get the full story »
