Groupon Finally Files IPO

Daily deals site Groupon filed for an IPO Thursday with the intention of raising an estimated $750 million. Although still struggling to turn a profit, the company reported revenue of $644.7 million in Q1 2011, with 83 million subscribers across 43 countries, according to reports.

Groupon hired Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs as lead underwriters for the offering. It will trade under the ticker "GRPN." The daily deal site had an interesting start. The company turned down a reported $6 billion bid from Google in December. Shortly afterward, it accepted a cash infusion from venture capitalists of around $1 billion from Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price.

Groupon.com, by market share of U.S. visits was the 64th-most visited site, with 14 million visits in the U.S., for the week end May 28, according to Experian Hitwise. The research firm estimates for that week Groupon.com captured 76% of visits among a category of 81 group buying sites.

Searches for "groupon" in the U.S. rose 462% for the week, compared with the year-ago week.

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