Reports of Groupon’s accounting problems appear not to have dissuaded investors from flocking to the daily-deal site’s offering last Friday. Initially priced at $20 per share, the stock hit $28 by the opening bell and reached its zenith at $31 before closing at $26.11. Groupon’s $700 million offering is tech’s largest since Google’s in 2004, with many counting its success in the market as a positive economic indicator.
Still, concerns over Groupon’s business model and solvency continue to plague both new and prospective shareholders, with many speculating that the company’s questionable fundamentals do not necessarily support its eyebrow-raising $16.5 billion valuation. In any event, Groupon’s strong performance Friday sent an unmistakable signal to Silicon Valley and those in the venture capital community, perhaps acting as the inspiration for fellow tech-giants such as Facebook and Zynga to quicken the pace with which they present their own IPOs in the near future.
Groupon was advised and underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.
[DealBook]
