After rejecting Google, discounter Groupon files for $750-mn IPO

Online discount start up site Groupon yesterday announced plans to go public by raising around $750 million on the US stock markets just months after it walked away from Internet giant Google's $6-billion takeover offer.

The widely-speculated IPO comes after it recently completed a $950 million round of funding from backers including Russia's Mail.ru Group and venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Although the Chicago-based commerce site did not disclose the number of shares being sold and their pricing, the $750 million it intends to raise is a pale reflection of Groupon's valuation, which some analysts have pegged at around $20 billion to $25 billion.

The IPO comes after a number of hot technology companies like LinkedIn and China's Renren have opted to raise funds through public debuts.

Business networking site, LinkedIn, which went public on 19 May at $45 a share, saw it stock soaring to more than $100 on the first day of trading to settle later at $79, giving it a market capitalisation of about $7.5 billion.

Facebook, world's popular social networking site is expected to go public next year and analysts have recently valued the company at around $50 billion after it raised $1.5 billion in January in a new round of funding led by global investment bank Goldman Sachs. (See: Facebook raises $1.5 bn in new, Goldman-led funding)