Shares of embattled daily-deals website Groupon (GRPN) surged on Monday after the company announced that it is looking for a prospective buyer. The stock was trading up over 7% during afternoon trading on Monday. According to the recent reports, the company, which has a market cap of $2.58 billion, has held preliminary talks with more than one potential buyers so far.
Though the names of the companies involved in the bidding was not revealed, industry watchers have made some guesses. These include Alibaba (BABA), which had picked 6% stake in the company in 2016, Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) as well as IAC, whose CEO Joey Levin sits on Groupon’s board.
Groupon has been struggling ever since it went public in 2011, as it failed to impress investors in terms of revenue growth. The company became subject to heavy backlash despite flowing more funds into marketing efforts, and many blamed the company’s flawed business model. International expansion plans also failed to take off as it was forced to exit many countries due to lack of profitability.
Stiff competition from peers including Yelp (YELP), Alibaba, Amazon (AMZN), and eBay (EBAY) has been crushing once popular coupons platform.
Groupon shares are up 19.4% in the past 52 weeks, but down 16.4% since the start of this year.
Groupon Q1 results (click to enlarge)
Most Popular
CCL Earnings: Carnival Corp. Q4 2024 revenue rises 10%
Carnival Corporation & plc. (NYSE: CCL) Friday reported strong revenue growth for the fourth quarter of 2024. The cruise line operator reported a profit for Q4, compared to a loss
Key metrics from Nike’s (NKE) Q2 2025 earnings results
NIKE, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) reported total revenues of $12.4 billion for the second quarter of 2025, down 8% on a reported basis and down 9% on a currency-neutral basis. Net
FDX Earnings: FedEx Q2 2025 adjusted profit increases; revenue dips
Cargo giant FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX), which completed an organizational restructuring recently, announced financial results for the second quarter of 2025. Second-quarter earnings, excluding one-off items, were $4.05 per share,