Daily deals website Groupon has reportedly shelved plans for a roadshow next week relating to its initial public offering.
The company is not pulling the flotation, but it is reconsidering its plans week to week, according to news provider the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The company was also contacted last week by the Securities Exchange Commission relating to an internal memo sent by Andrew Mason, Groupon’s chief executive, the WSJ said. The letter praised the company and attacked Groupon’s critics, the WSJ said.
US disclosure rules limit the ability of companies to comment publicly when they are pursuing an initial public offering.
Groupon turned down a reported $6bn takeover offer from Google in December last year. It was eyeing a listing at a $20bn valuation, according to the WSJ.
The largest external shareholders in the business, besides vehicles related to family members of Groupon executives, were venture firms New Enterprise Associates (14.6%) as well as Accel Growth Fund (5.5%) and businessmen Alexander, Oliver and Marc Samwer (6.5%).
In May last year Groupon acquired CityDeal, a Germany-based peer that first raised €4m ($5.6m) in January last year and which raised a further €5m in March 2010. City Deal, which was backed by Rocket Internet, which was founded by Oliver and Marc Samwer, owns 10.3% of Groupon, according to its regulatory filing.
CityDeal’s backers included eVenture Capital Partners, which has Germany-based retailer Otto Group as a cornerstone investor, Holtzbrinck Ventures, the former corporate venturing unit of local media company Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group that became independent in January, and Sweden-based Investment AB Kinnevik.
Other backers of Groupon include DST Global, a Russia-based investment fund backed by Naspers and Tencent, US-based fund managers T Rowe Price, the Growth Fund of America, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and venture firms Technology Crossover Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Andreesen Horowitz and Greylock Partners,