Groupon Buys Citydeal

By Kevin Robinson in News on May 18, 2010 4:20PM

Chicago-based deal-of-the-day website Groupon announced the acquisition of European Citydeal, which operates on a similar business model. The buyout means that Groupon now has access to 80 cities in Europe, along with the already 60 cities in North America where the collective buying power web startup is operational. [Full disclosure: Groupon is an active advertiser on this website.] You can check out founder and CEO Andrew Mason rationale behind the buyout on the Groupon Blog. Crain's notes that the scores of competitors that have sprung up in Groupon's wake have led to a "race to cover as many cities as quickly as possible," and the purchase of London-based Citydeal puts Groupon in Europe, expanding the countries it covers from two to 18.