5 ms·

Google's offer was $6B. The IPO is priced at $30B. I am scratching my head how that is the dumbest thing you have ever seen a company do. Ever. I can see th

Google's offer was $6B. The IPO is priced at $30B. I am scratching my head how that is the dumbest thing you have ever seen a company do. Ever. I can see the IPO valuation getting cut to a more reasonable $10B, but that is still more than the Google offer.

jonknee 15y ago
Who's to say the IPO will be successful? The suits will have to keep their shares for a bit, plenty of time for the whole mess to unfold. Plus, Groupon raised a ton of VC ($950M) after turning down Google's offer. Factoring in dilution, it won't take a drastically bad IPO to make $6B in-hand look like a steal.
- staunch 15y ago
  Hundreds of millions of dollars already went to the founders. The only risk is whether they'll be super rich or ultra super rich.
  - jonknee 15y ago
    There are more stakeholders in the company than the founders.
    - staunch 15y ago
      Sure, but the founders (and the rest of the board) made the decision not to sell. You can call them fools, but they're laughing all the way to the bank.
      - jonknee 15y ago
        Possibly laughing all the way to the bank, it could end up that Google was a much better deal.
  - teej 15y ago
    Incorrect. Tens of millions of dollars already went to founders. Only investors cashed out in the 9 figure range. [1] That's a huge difference, especially considering that Groupon fancies itself a $30B company. [1] - http://www.businessinsider.com/the-millions-of-dollars-groupons-investors-and-executives-have-already-taken-off-the-table-2011-6 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-millions-of-dollars-group...
    - staunch 15y ago
      Nope. Groupon was started by Andrew Mason and Eric Lefkofsky (who also put up the first money). Eric Lefkofsky through his investment shells^Wcompanies took more money out than anyone else.
puredemo 15y ago
We'll see.. http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/web-ipos-tech-ipos-groupon-ipo/8/10/2011/id/36264 http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/web-ipos... "Groupon is still effectively insolvent, and without capital infusions is unlikely to exist in 18 months." In my opinion, valuing a company at $10B when they haven't ever shown a net profit is ludicrous.
- samstave 15y ago
  Are they letting Goldman Sachs handle the IPO? GS is pretty evil in pushing ridiculous IPO values in order to get their higher cut. Cant wait to see what BS goes on with GS handling Facebooks IPO.
  - anigbrowl 15y ago
    That's an interesting point. GS has been having a rather lackluster year so far (by their own standards - many other firms would love to have their problems). The firm is caught between a rock and a hard place; it needs to demonstrate everything is above board and strictly in accordance with the law, but is also under pressure from investors to improve performance. Not that so much hinges on any one deal, but this IPO has become something of a barometer for the sector absent an announcement by Facebook.
- maukdaddy 15y ago
  Welcome to the 1990s!

jonknee 15y ago

Who's to say the IPO will be successful? The suits will have to keep their shares for a bit, plenty of time for the whole mess to unfold. Plus, Groupon raised a ton of VC ($950M) after turning down Google's offer. Factoring in dilution, it won't take a drastically bad IPO to make $6B in-hand look like a steal.

staunch 15y ago
Hundreds of millions of dollars already went to the founders. The only risk is whether they'll be super rich or ultra super rich.
- jonknee 15y ago
  There are more stakeholders in the company than the founders.
  - staunch 15y ago
    Sure, but the founders (and the rest of the board) made the decision not to sell. You can call them fools, but they're laughing all the way to the bank.
    - jonknee 15y ago
      Possibly laughing all the way to the bank, it could end up that Google was a much better deal.
- teej 15y ago
  Incorrect. Tens of millions of dollars already went to founders. Only investors cashed out in the 9 figure range. [1] That's a huge difference, especially considering that Groupon fancies itself a $30B company. [1] - http://www.businessinsider.com/the-millions-of-dollars-groupons-investors-and-executives-have-already-taken-off-the-table-2011-6 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-millions-of-dollars-group...
  - staunch 15y ago
    Nope. Groupon was started by Andrew Mason and Eric Lefkofsky (who also put up the first money). Eric Lefkofsky through his investment shells^Wcompanies took more money out than anyone else.

puredemo 15y ago

We'll see.. http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/web-ipos-tech-ipos-groupon-ipo/8/10/2011/id/36264 http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/web-ipos... "Groupon is still effectively insolvent, and without capital infusions is unlikely to exist in 18 months." In my opinion, valuing a company at $10B when they haven't ever shown a net profit is ludicrous.

samstave 15y ago
Are they letting Goldman Sachs handle the IPO? GS is pretty evil in pushing ridiculous IPO values in order to get their higher cut. Cant wait to see what BS goes on with GS handling Facebooks IPO.
- anigbrowl 15y ago
  That's an interesting point. GS has been having a rather lackluster year so far (by their own standards - many other firms would love to have their problems). The firm is caught between a rock and a hard place; it needs to demonstrate everything is above board and strictly in accordance with the law, but is also under pressure from investors to improve performance. Not that so much hinges on any one deal, but this IPO has become something of a barometer for the sector absent an announcement by Facebook.
maukdaddy 15y ago
Welcome to the 1990s!