Groupon, a US-based online coupon company backed by corporate venture-backed Mail.ru, wants to raise up to $950m after ending talks to sell out to search engine group Google for a reported $6bn.
Groupon’s statement of incorporation, which was first disclosed by news provider VC Experts, said Groupon would issue nearly 30.1 million of a new series of preference stock, priced at $31.59 a share. The stock would be priced slightly below the level of the last round sold by Groupon in April, though the rights attached to the shares would be different.
A subsequent filing reported by Financial Times said Groupon has already raised $500m of the round, according to a regulatory filing that reveals 33 investors provided the money.
News provider Fortune said the new backers were believed to include investment bank Morgan Stanley and mutual fund managers Fidelity and T Rowe Price.
Groupon previously raised $135m in April, in a round of fundraising led by Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian investment firm in turn backed by the corporate venturing units of South Africa’s Naspers and China’s Tencent, as well as previous money from venture capital firms Accel Partners, Battery Ventures and New Enterprise Associates.
News provider New York Times said Groupon could float by the end of next year.