Tiger Global Hedge Fund Takes 9.9% Stake in Groupon
Groupon Inc. (GRPN) shares rose as much as 15 percent after Tiger Global Management LLC, the $8 billion hedge fund run by Chase Coleman and Feroz Dewan, said it acquired a 9.9 percent stake in the daily deal site.
The shares rose 45 cents to $3.55 at 11:59 a.m. in New York. Earlier, they touched $3.57, their biggest gain since July. Tiger Global bought 65 million shares in Chicago-based Groupon, a stake valued at $201.8 million based on yesterday’s closing price, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The investment is a sign of confidence that Groupon, which has declined more than 80 percent since its November 2011 initial public offering, can find new channels of growth as demand for online coupons fades. New York-based Tiger Global also has stakes in struggling Internet portal Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and Facebook Inc. (FB), operator of the world’s largest social network.
Groupon plunged to a record closing low of $2.63 last week after reporting third-quarter revenue that missed estimates. It sold shares at $20 apiece in its IPO, valuing the company at about $12.7 billion.
Groupon backers divesting stakes include Battery Ventures, which sold all of its 15.99 million shares earlier this year, and Andreessen Horowitz, which sold its 5.1 million shares in June. Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, is an investor in Andreessen Horowitz.
Eric Lefkofsky, the chairman and largest shareholder in Groupon, transferred 18.7 million of his company’s shares to early investors, consultants and advisers in August.
To contact the reporter on this story: Douglas MacMillan in San Francisco at dmacmillan3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net
Groupon Rises as Tiger Global Reveals 9.9% Stake: Chicago Mover
Tim Boyle/Bloomberg
Tiger Global Management LLC bought 65 million shares in Chicago-based Groupon Inc., a stake valued at $201.8 million based on yesterday’s closing price, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tiger Global Management LLC bought 65 million shares in Chicago-based Groupon Inc., a stake valued at $201.8 million based on yesterday’s closing price, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Photographer: Tim Boyle/Bloomberg
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