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Technology Stocks : Groupon, Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (127)	10/5/2011 6:03:58 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 480

Ed Ketz, an accounting professor at Pennsylvania State University, talks about Groupon Inc.'s accounting practices and business model. He speaks with Cory Johnson and Emily Chang on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg West." .... youtube.com

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (127)	10/5/2011 6:11:36 PM
From: stockman_scott	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 480

Groupon targets early November for IPO completion ____________________________________________________________________________________ By John Pletz October 03, 2011 -- (Crain's) -- Groupon Inc. is aiming to complete its initial public offering by late October or early November, sources familiar with the company said. The stock sale, delayed from September by volatility on the stock markets, is moving forward, the sources said, after Groupon resolved questions from the Securities and Exchange Commission over its accounting presentation and an ill-timed internal memo from CEO Andrew Mason that pushed the boundaries of “quiet-period” restrictions. Management is still waiting on market conditions to improve before committing to a launch date. The market didn't help any today; most indexes were down 2%, after double-digit declines in the third quarter. But the Chicago-based company could bring the deal to market relatively quickly, completing a road show with big institutional investors in a week to 10 days. Groupon is one of the most anticipated but controversial IPOs, and the offering is seen as a test of both the company's long-term prospects and the health of the market for new stock issues. Since Groupon filed its prospectus on June 2, the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index has plunged 16% and the IPO market has all but frozen up. The big issue now for Groupon is the company's valuation. After LinkedIn's frothy debut in May — the stock doubled on its opening day — the whisper around Groupon was $25 billion. Now, $20 billion seems like a stretch even to Groupon optimists. Others are even less bullish. “Now I think we'd be looking at a valuation of half that,” said David Menlow, president of Millburn, N.J.-based IPOFinancials.com, which tracks public offerings. “The market has quieted, the bubble has contracted. There are myriad considerations that have taken the sharp edges off the offering. The more time it takes, it takes some of the enthusiasm out of the market.” Still, anything above the $6 billion that Google Inc. offered last December would be considered a success. Groupon could pull its IPO if valuations are too low. To continue its aggressive growth strategy, Groupon will need more capital. Without an IPO, the company would be forced to go back to its existing venture-capital and mutual-fund investors for more money. Until now, most of the $1.1 billion raised from outside investors went to early backers. LivingSocial, Groupon's nearest daily-deal rival, reportedly is tapping private equity for its capital needs rather than filing for an IPO. Without added capital, Groupon would have to reduce marketing spending that has allowed it to add more than 30 million subscribers in each of the past two quarters. Investor appetite for Groupon is uncertain. “There were zero IPOs priced in the U.S. in September — the first time that has happened in two years,” says David Weild, a senior capital-markets adviser at Chicago-based Grant Thornton LLP. “This is due to debt-crisis jitters, increasing cross-linkage of markets and volatility amplified by hair-trigger electronic markets. All IPOs will have a harder time, given these uncertainties, including Groupon.” Other questions remain: The company has yet to show a profit, and Margo Georgiadis unexpectedly left last month to return to Google Inc. after just five months as chief operating officer. Groupon has not named a successor.