After a long holdout, Groupon, the company that sends out daily emails to subscribers with discount deals for companies in their area, finally sold its initial public offering to select investors. Although many industry analysts thought the shares would go for anywhere between $16 and $18 a share, the first IPOs were sold for $20, surprisingly greater amount. Groupon was valued at $13.3 billion by the IPO and raised $700 million. .
Groupon initially announced in its first filings with the SEC that it hoped to raise $479 million by selling stock at $17 per share with a maximum of $552 million if the company also sold its 4.5 million in over-allotment shares. However, Mason did not disclose what he intended to do with the extra money and has vowed not to discuss any financials for the next 12 months (Ortutay). .
Initially, it was questionable whether the laid-back founder and chief executive, Andrew Mason, would be able to convince investors that Groupon is more than just another Pets.com, a prime example of a company that fell to pieces after the dot-com boom of the 1990s. Mason, who is usually clad in jeans and a sweatshirt pulled on a suit for a press conference at the St. Regis hotel in New York. He reportedly told investors "with a market measured not in billions but trillions of dollars, we're just getting started" (Rusli). .
Apparently, Mason's speech worked, as Groupon's IPO did much better than ever predicted. Analysts chalk up the elevated price per share to the fact that Groupon decided to only sell 35 million shares, or 5 percent of their company. Most likely, Mason followed in the footsteps of another Internet company, LinkedIn, who sold less than 10 percent of its company in their initial offering (Rusli).
LinkedIn also helped Groupon's cause. "Everyone was surprised by how well LinkedIn did," said a person close to the company. "The thinking was, .
