Groupon plans US$25bn IPO

18 Mar 2011

E-commerce coupon comet Groupon is planning a US$25bn IPO on Wall Street. This is up considerably on the US$15bn IPO that was being touted only a few weeks ago.

According to reports, the company is doing a roadshow with various Wall Street banks and the US$25bn IPO target is being mentioned.

Groupon, which brushed off a US$7bn attempted acquisition by Google, if successful in its IPO bid, could end up being valued more than Google, which currently is valued at US$24.6bn.

FarmVille creator Zynga, which recently raised US$500m in venture capital, is currently valued at US$10bn.

It emerged in recent weeks that social messaging giant Twitter achieved a US$4.5bn valuation after it emerged JP Morgan was in talks to acquire a 10pc stake in the company.

Meanwhile, social networking giant Facebook recently edged up to a potential valuation of US$75bn, which could make it the daddy of all IPOs if does indeed go public in 2012.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com