Groupon IPO Follows a Year of Success, Big Deals and Buyout Offers

We knew it was coming. Groupon's prospective IPO has been the talk of the town ever since Google GOOG attempted to acquire the daily deal organization last fall. The reports were all but daily, with every rumor indicating that Groupon would be sold to the search engine giant. Groupon could have done many things for Google, so much so that it was believed that another search giant wanted to acquire the firm. But Groupon stayed independent, inspired a host of new competitors – including variations from the makers of Windows and political commentator Glenn Beck – helped Eric Lefkofsky (one of Groupon's founders) make the Forbes 400 billionaires list, and earned big bucks last year. Earlier this year, Groupon announced its plans to expand its staff in China. The biggest news, however, came when reports surfaced that Goldman Sachs' GS CEO, Lloyd Blankfei, met with Groupon to discuss its IPO. At the time, Morgan Stanley MS was also said to be in talks with Groupon. Today, the news is official. The company that's known for delivering unprecedented deals has filed a $750 million IPO. According to Bloomberg, this IPO will make it easier for Groupon to make big acquisitions. But corporate owners and execs are not the only ones who will benefit. Groupon has also stated that every full-time employee will own equity in the firm. “We are very good at knowing what we're not good at,” Brad Keywell, one of Groupon's founders, told Benzinga last December. “We understand what we're not good at and we try to avoid those things.” Needless to say, this has been a very successful strategy for Keywell, who, along with Lefkofsky and Andrew Mason, took Groupon from a clever concept to an international powerhouse. The company's IPO proves that Groupon made the right decision when it chose to reject its many buyout offers. Groupon's IPO comes before the highly anticipated Facebook IPO but follows the heavily hyped LinkedIn LNKD IPO. The company's proposed stock symbol is GRPN. Stay tuned to Benzinga for further updates on Groupon's initial public offering.