LivingSocial, one of the major leaguers in the social-buying sector, has hired JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to oversee its upcoming initial public offering, a person with knowledge of the talks said, BusinessWeek reported.

While negotiations with any of the banks could fall through, the Washington D.C.-based startup is still anticipated to formally make an appointment within the next three weeks, the person, who requested anonymity because the talks are private, said.

LivingSocial managers have discussed in meetings with the bankers the possibility of raising $700 million to $1 billion in the stock sale, giving the company a value of $10 billion to $15 billion, according to a New York Times report.

Living Social aims to capitalize on surging demands for shares of social Internet companies after LinkedIn Corp., Yankdex NV and Pandora Media Inc. have gained at least 20 percent since raising money in public markets this year, Bloomberg reported. Groupon Inc., the frontrunner in delivering daily coupons online, filed June 2 for a $750 million IPO.

Morgan Stanely and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are reportedly not contenders to handle LivingSocial's share sale because of their hand in Groupon's IPO, said the person familiar with the decision.

LivingSocial is one of Groupon's biggest competitors; Groupon has filed for an IPO and the company's valuation may be as high as $30 billion, according to the New York Times.

Investment Jpmorgan chase