CHICAGO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Groupon Inc. has rebuffed an acquisition offer by Google Inc., preferring to remain independent, sources told the Chicago Tribune Friday.
Groupon, based in Chicago, offers online consumers significant discounts on local products and services but only if enough subscribers sign up for the offers. Groupon and Google had been discussing the prospect of Google acquiring the service but two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told the Tribune Groupon decided against it.
There had been reports Google offered $5 billion to $6 billion for Groupon, the newspaper said.
Citing a source, the report said Groupon might try to arrange an initial public offering but may not decide on that until early next year.
In two years, Groupon has gone from an outgrowth of another Web business to an international online concern, with more than 3,000 employees and projected annual revenues of $500 million in 2010.
