Groupon Amends IPO Filing, Backpedals On 'Wildly Profitable' Statement

By Alistair Barr

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Groupon Inc, the largest online daily deals company, has added 11 new underwriters for its upcoming initial public offering.

The additions mean 14 banks are now working on the offering. In 2004, when Google Inc went public, it had 10 banks underwriting its offering, according to regulatory filings.

Groupon also added new information to the risk section of its IPO filing, telling prospective investors to ignore recent comments by co-Founder Eric Lefkofsky about the company's future profitability.

JPMorgan, Allen & Co, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Citigroup Inc, Deutsche Bank Securities, William Blair & Co, Citadel Securities, Loop Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and the Williams Capital Group, were added as underwriters, according to an updated regulatory filing late on Thursday.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Credit Suisse Ltd were the lead underwriters named on Groupon's original IPO filing on June 2.

Groupon is hoping to raise $750 million from its IPO, capitalizing on investor interest in the booming online daily deals industry. Groupon also said it will not need any of the money it gets from the IPO to fund operations during the next 12 months.

A few days after its original IPO filing, Bloomberg News quoted Lefkofsky saying that: "Groupon was going to be wildly profitable," the company said.

"The reported statement does not accurately or completely reflect Mr. Lefkofsky's views and should not be considered by prospective investors in isolation or at all," Groupon said in its updated IPO filing.

"We have in the past and may continue to receive, a high degree of media coverage, including coverage that is not directly attributable to statements made by our officers and employees, incorrectly reports on statements made by our officers or employees, or is misleading as a result of omitting to state information provided by us or our officers or employees," Groupon added.

"You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus in determining whether to purchase our shares."

Under Securities and Exchange Commission rules, company officials cannot talk publicly about their company ahead of an IPO.

The snafu recalls a similar media blunder by Google in the lead-up to its stock-market debut. Google Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin gave an interview to glamour magazine Playboy a few days before Google announced its IPO on April 29, 2004. The article prompted an SEC inquiry, according to the Wall Street Journal.

(Reporting by Alistair Barr; editing by Robert MacMillan and Andre Grenon)
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions

Comments

[bradkevans]

10:45 PM on 07/17/2011

Worst biz decision of 2010: groupon's ego maniac owners Turning down google's $6bn offer.

[Vic22]

09:38 PM on 07/15/2011

They need to shape up, because if they don't change their business model, they are going to run out of businesses, since very few are getting the kind of results that make them want to use Groupon again

[JTS313]

02:12 PM on 07/16/2011

You are absolutely correct. I'm an upscale restaurant owner who took the Groupon bait and it cost me about 30 grand when all was said and done. An IPO for a company that has few, if any, repeat customers? Looks like a stock to short if you ask me.

[elblanc0]

11:30 AM on 07/15/2011

Sorry, somebody flipped our 'M' upside down. That should read, 'Mildly Profitable'

[Gary Storch]

10:29 AM on 07/15/2011

Groupons = Mass orgy by the public?

I am not so sure of this bunch.

[ILoveGreatDanes]

09:27 AM on 07/15/2011

Groupon is a sinking ship. Those investors best stay away.