Reports: Groupon To Release Scaled-Back IPO In Next 2 Weeks

Groupon

Groupon is planning an IPO of around $500 to $700 million in the next two weeks, according to reports in DealBook and the Wall Street Journal, on a valuation of around $12 billion. That valuation is down from estimates as high as $25 to $30 billion in May.

Shaky economic markets and poor decisions by the company–a “leaked” memo and unorthodox accounting methods that attracted SEC attention–are the reasons for the scaled-back IPO. Groupon’s COO went back to Google (NSDQ: GOOG) in September, after less than five months at the company.

A source told the WSJ that Groupon “has decided to sell a smaller number of shares because it’s better to sell some shares now, rather than cancel the IPO and losing out on any fundraising opportunity.” Companies like Zillow and LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) have used similar tactics when releasing their IPOs in recent months.

Groupons’s road show is expected to begin last week. The company delayed its IPO in September; it had originally intended to go public after Labor Day.

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