• TechCrunch, Wednesday, December 1, 2010 1:41 PM

Amid rapid growth and fantastic buy-out offers, Groupon has somehow found time to open new offices, and acquire local marketing services startup Ludic Labs. San Mateo-based Ludic Labs has produced Offerfoundry.com -- a self-service advertising and deals platform for local businesses -- and local interest community Diddit.com. As a part of the acquisition, Dr. Brian Totty, CEO of Ludic Labs, will take on the role of head of engineering for the daily deal site, overseeing international product development and innovation.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but according to CrunchBase, Ludic Labs was operating on $5 million of venture capital, thanks to Accel Partners and KPG Ventures. Regarding Groupon's new digs, TechCrunch notes: "Its local staff is projected to grow from 25 people to more than 100 within the next year." Oh, and in case you missed it, Groupon on Tuesday announced the acquisition of three deal websites in Asia -- uBuyiBuy, Beeconomic and Atlaspost - in order to secure a solid Eastern and Southeast Asian presence.

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