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Goldman Lands Lead in "Groupon, the IPO"

Published: Jun 02, 2011

 Finance       

Groupon, the discount deal offerer from Chicago whose revenues have increased by 20,000 percent in the past two years (no joke) and whose CEO Andrew Mason (pictured below) not long ago turned down a $6 billion buyout from Google, has just filed to go public in what's likely to be an even more highly sought after deal than LinkedIn's IPO a couple weeks back.

groupon ceo andrew masonOn board to lead underwrite the proposed $750 million deal (and earn some nice fee$) are Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley (the only one of the three that also led LinkedIn's IPO).

Speaking of fees, in somewhat of an unorthodox move (but in the spirit of the deal), the three banks are offering Groupon the choice of (1) a 50 percent break on their typical underwiting fees; (2) a 30 percent break, plus a free tour of their respective subprime mortage-backed security trading floors; or (3) a 20 percent break, plus a three-martini lunch date with their respective CEOs (which, in Goldman's case, is being advertised as "breaking bread with St. Lloyd").

(DealBook: Groupon Files to Go Public)

(Related: LinkedIn's IPO: $99 and Rising, LinkedIn, Groupon and Facebook: the Great American Social Media IPOs)

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