US-based daily deals platform Groupon has revealed that it paid nothing for corporate-backed competitor Living Social when it acquired the company in October 2016.
Living Social had raised more than $900m in funding altogether, including $176m in a December 2011 round featuring e-commerce group Amazon that reportedly valued it at $6bn, and a $110m round two years later that reportedly closed at a $1.5bn valuation.
The company had struggled for several years prior to the Groupon acquisition, cutting staff numbers and pivoting from goods and services to experiences in 2015. A securities filing from Groupon has revealed the deal was made for ‘no consideration’.
Amazon had initially invested $175m in the company in 2010 and had latterly taken part in a $400m round in April 2011 alongside Lightspeed Ventures, T. Rowe Price and Institutional Venture Partners.
Other investors in Living Social included venture capital firms US Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures and Revolution.