Groupon Ponders Raising Its IPO

By Soyoung Kwak in News on Oct 30, 2011 6:00PM

As if Groupon wasn't already in the news for all of the wrong reasons, so it's not a huge surprise that it is still toying around with its IPO pricing.

As you may already know, Groupon's initial IPO Prospectus was shot down, dissected and gutted by everyone and their mothers for painting an inaccurate picture of their earnings by using obscure sketchy math. After noticing that investors and the public were not buying their initial stock estimates, Groupon decided to do some "real" math and revised their IPO Prospectus and sent it off on its way.

But of course, Groupon news wouldn't be real Groupon news without some kind of twist. The rumor is that Groupon founder and CEO Andrew Mason wants to raise the revised public offering, feeling confident about his meeting with investors in New York City last week. Groupon states that "higher-than-expected demand for the shares from investors" prompted the thinking about this possible change.

Regardless of what happened behind closed doors, it is safe to say that many are still skeptical about and unconvinced by Groupon's tactics. Many are wary of Groupon's actual stock market value and its long-term potential, and we at the Chicagoist office are scratching our heads as to why this IPO drama is still dragging on. Some big-name investors in NYC may have been impressed with Mason's rhetorical wizardry, but if we were Andrew Mason, we would take everything with a grain (or two) of salt.