Online daily-deals firm Groupon has lowered expectations for its initial public offering (IPO), saying in a regulatory filing Friday that it now aims to raise up to $621m.
In contrast, the firm had said in early June that it would seek as much as $750 million via its then-eagerly-anticipated IPO.
Since June, however, equity markets have been very volatile, rocked by worries about the sovereign debt crisis gripping the eurozone, Washington’s fiscal woes and the possibility of the US economy slipping into another recession.
In an amended S-1 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Groupon announced that it will sell 30 million shares of Class A common stock at a price in a range of $16 to $18 each.
In other words, it is trying to raise between $480 million and $540 million. The share count indicates it is aiming to sell about a five percent stake to the public in this offering, implying, according to various calculations, an overall valuation of between $11 billion and $12 billion.
Groupon noted that it could raise up to $621 million if the overallotment option granted to its underwriters was exercised in full.
Groupon, which started up in October 2008, said Friday that it posted a net loss of $10.6 million for the third quarter on revenue of $430.2 million.
The firm, which connects merchants to online consumers by offering goods and services at significant discounts, said it had 142.9 million subscribers as of Sept 30.
Groupon also said that it applied to list shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “GRPN.”
