Groupon's IPO not coming soon

GROUPON   GROUP BUYING  IPO

Global - Groupon's much-anticipated initial public offering of stock could be delayed until September end this  year owing to regulatory authority's concerns over the company's accounting metric, foreign media reports said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked Groupon to answer questions about the unusual measure it invented, which paints a more robust picture of performance by excluding marketing and other expenses, sources familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal.

The Chicago-based daily deals company  filed its S-1  in early June this year hoping to raise US$750 million in an IPO underwritten by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse.  The IPO is expected to value the company at US$20 billion.

According to the WSJ report, Groupon has highlighted in regulatory filings something it calls "adjusted consolidated segment operating income," or adjusted CSOI. Investors and analysts said that draws attention away from marketing costs, which are causing the company to hemorrhage money.

According to Groupon, it raised US$81.6 million in adjusted CSOI in the first quarter of 2011, but if marketing costs are calculated that figure would be a loss of US$98 million.

Groupon plans to file an amendment, a second one since 14 July, to address the SEC's concerns over adjusted CSOI and still aims to go public in mid-September, sources told WSJ.

Between 2009 and 2010, Groupon's revenues increased by 2,241%, to US$713 million. The company is on track to nearly quadruple that this year -in the first quarter, Groupon made US$646 million in coupon sales. However, it was not profitable last year. The company lost US$389.6 million in 2010.

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