Groupon Raises $700 Million, Raising Value to $12.7 Billion

Deals site Groupon raised $700 million via its long-delayed initial public offering, leaving the Chicago-based company valued at $12.7 billion.

Shares first traded up 55 percent at $30.90 in midmorning Friday trading. They were at $27.95 after the first half hour of trading. Underwriters priced the issue at $20. Insiders sold only about five percent of their shares.

The IPO, delayed by a quarter's worth of criticism of its internal finances as well as a turbulent stock market, left Groupon's value priced substantially below its initial estimate of $20 billion.

Groupon will be among a handful of Internet-related IPOs so far this year, which have enjoyed mixed success. Social media site LinkedIn, now valued at $8.42 billion, has fallen seven percent since its May IPO. On Thursday, the site said it planned a secondary offering to raise another $100 million.

LinkedIn, based in San Francisco, also reported a third-quarter loss of $1.6 million on revenue that more than doubled to $139 million.

Groupon's IPO will set the company up as still another public site in retailing, battling long-established sites such as Google and Amazon.com.

The underwriters are Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.

Contact David Zielenziger at d.zielenziger@ibtimes.com