Now Google has revealed that it is to launch its own group buying site, meaning it will be going head-to-head with the company it tried to snap up. The search engine giant made the offer towards the end of last year, but the powers that be at Groupon decided it the best course of action would be to remain independent. Amazon once owned a third of LivingSocial in addition to operating its own local deals business, which it shut down in 2015.That’s exactly what Groupon did, though, and it seems the social buying site may live to regret that decision. Today, Groupon is valued at just $2.4 billion after a years-long decline in the daily deals category Groupon acquired its principal competitor LivingSocial for $0 in 2016.

By its IPO day in 2011 - the second-largest ever for a tech company at the time - Groupon was worth more than $16 billion, making its decision to turn down a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google a year earlier look smart.īut that may have been the company’s peak. In the first few years following its launch in 2008, Groupon was one of the darlings of the startup world after introducing the concept of daily deals to online consumers, igniting a frenzy among deal seekers and local businesses alike.

It’s not clear if Groupon has been successful in stirring up a suitor or what’s behind the current push to sell.Ī Groupon spokesperson declined to comment.

Groupon has made it known for some time to potential acquirers that the company is open to the idea of a sale, but representatives for the company were especially aggressive last month in attempting to create interest among potential suitors, one of these people said.

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