Groupon share price rises as Groupon lands multi-million dollar investment from Atairos
Who said daily deals were dead?
Quite a few people, actually, but Groupon is proving that's not quite the case with a new multi-million dollar investment.
Investment firm Atairos has ploughed $250m into the daily deals site.
"Our partnership with Atairos will help accelerate our transformation while better positioning us to execute on our strategy and mission to build the daily habit in local commerce — which we continued to make progress on in the first quarter. I am extremely pleased that a respected, long-term oriented partner like Atairos shares our view about the vast opportunity ahead for Groupon," said chief executive Rich Williams.
Atairos chief and chairman Michael Angelakis will join the Groupon board as part of the deal.
Shares in Groupon shot up more than 13 per cent on the news.
After some difficulties – losing around 80 per cent of its value since IPOing in 2011 – 2016 has been a better year for the former deals darling. In February, it reported that it had swung back to profit and then it was revealed Chinese internet giant Alibaba had taken a 5.6 per cent stake in the business, becoming its fourth largest shareholder.
As part of the deal, Atairos will work on partnerships with Comcast (Angelakis is former chief financial officer of the media company).
"Groupon is an established leader in connecting customers with local businesses. The potential in combining Groupon's local expertise with Comcast's vast subscriber and advertiser network is something we look forward to closely exploring together," said Comcast Cable chief executive and president Neil Smit.
Groupon will use the cash to repurchase a further $200m worth of shares, which will be extended through to 2018.