Groupon has held talks with banks about an initial public offering that would value the online-coupon company at as much as USD 25 billion, two people with knowledge of the discussions told Bloomberg. The startup's IPO may happen this year and is unlikely to assign Groupon a valuation of less than USD 15 billion, according to the unnamed sources. The company reportedly turned down a takeover bid of USD 6 billion from Google in Decemver. Groupon has 70 million users and reaches more than 500 markets, up from 300 when Google made its offer. Groupon was valued at about USD 1.3 billion last April, when it raised USD 135 million from investors including Digital Sky Technologies. An investment of USD 950 million completed in January valued Groupon at USD 4.75 billion. A spokeswoman for Groupon declined to comment. While Groupon leads the daily-deal market, it faces mounting competition from rivals such as LivingSocial. That company is close to raising as much as USD 400 million in funding that would value it at more than USD 2 billion, two people with knowledge of the talks told Bloomberg.
