Groupon completed its much-anticipated and upsized IPO on Thursday, setting a $20 price tag on 35 million shares (vs. proposed 30 million shares at $16 to $18). The daily deal juggernaut's $700 million deal size and $13.3 billion market cap make it the second largest US Internet company to go public since Google's $1.7 billion IPO in August 2004 at a $25 billion market cap. Groupon opened for trading on the Nasdaq up 40% from its IPO price at $28. It closed on Friday at $26.11, representing a first day pop of 31%. Groupon's $17.4 billion market cap makes it the sixth most valuable US Internet company.
Largest US Internet Companies By Market Cap
| Company Name | Symbol | Offer Date | Market Cap (bil) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Inc | GOOG | 08/18/04 | $192.7 |
| Amazon.com Inc | AMZN | 05/14/97 | $98.4 |
| eBay Inc | EBAY | 09/23/98 | $42.1 |
| priceline.com Inc | PCLN | 03/29/99 | $25.4 |
| Yahoo! Inc | YHOO | 04/11/96 | $19.3 |
| Groupon | GRPN | 11/03/11 | $17.4 |
| LinkedIn Corp | LNKD | 05/18/11 | $8.0 |
| Expedia Inc | EXPE | 11/09/99 | $7.7 |
| Akamai Technologies Inc | AKAM | 10/28/99 | $5.5 |
| VeriSign Inc | VRSN | 01/29/98 | $5.2 |
Groupon's IPO is a significant icebreaker in an IPO market that has been essentially shut down since mid-August. However, since the beginning of the third quarter, institutional money flows have been going into newly public companies, providing a positive backdrop for the Groupon IPO. The FTSE Renaissance IPO Index has risen +14.5% from the beginning of the third quarter to date compared to the S&P 500 up +11.5% over the same period.
The IPO calendar has been building including Angie's List (ANGI) and Zynga (ZNGA) expected to price before year end.
