Groupon IPO Raises $700 Million, Priced At $20 A Share

Daily deals powerhouse Groupon has priced its Initial Public Offering at $20 a share, a move that will raise $700 million for the barely 3-year-old startup.

This IPO values the company at around $12.8 billion.

The oversubscribed company added five million shares to its offering, upping the figure from 30 million shares sold to 35 million shares sold. This still only amounts to 5.5% of the company.

The $20 a share pricing is slightly higher than what was expected. The price range that was originally discussed was between $16 and $18 a share.

It looks like most of the trepidation surrounding Groupon’s IPO went by the wayside as people rushed to buy a piece of the company. On the bumpy road to an IPO, Groupon had been hit with executive troubles, and criticism of accounting practices.

This IPO is the second largest by an internet-based company – all time. Of course, the biggest IPO crown belongs to Google in 2004. Groupon will begin trading Friday under the symbol “GRPN.”

Here’s some of the chatter surrounding the huge IPO:

Rocky Agrawal at VentureBeat says that he still believes that Groupon is a “terrible company for investors, small businesses and ultimately for consumers.” But he’s buying shares –

All of that said, I’ve put in my request with my broker for shares in the IPO because Groupon has scientifically engineered its IPO to inflate share prices. Its float is one of the tiniest in the last decade. Most likely this thing will have a nice pop.

What do you think of Groupon’s IPO? Let us know in the comments.