Google couldn’t buy them and some believe this is a good thing. As more numbers start to get tossed out about valuation, profits, and potential, GroupOn‘s filing to authorize up to $950 million in Series G funding comes as music to the ears of many in the venture capital world. At $31.59 a share, is it a good deal?
Good deals are GroupOn’s specialty. This is no exception.
The filing authorizes up to 250 million share. According to VC Experts, if all of them are issued, Groupon’s valuation could be as high as $7.8 billion. We knew there was a reason they would pass on Google’s $6 billion offer and why Groupon CEO Andrew Mason doesn’t want to go with an IPO.
Expect a mad scramble to gobble up as large of a chunk as possible when venture capitalists pull out their checkbooks next year. It only took 7 months for the company to become profitable. They have over 3000 employees in 35 countries and are focused on expanding to Europe in 2011. In other words, they are likely the safest bet in big-tech ventures since Sergey and Larry started begging for money for their little search engine venture over a decade ago.
It prints money. GroupOn is a company that businesses and consumers alike love. It would take severe missteps on their part to slow their growth or turn investors sour. As a result, the money will continue to flow in for the foreseeable future.
Maybe Google should have offered $7 billion.
The complete filing is available here: Groupon Amended Certificate of Incorporation
