, Columnist
Groupon's Once-Bright Star Burns Out
Its acquisition of rival LivingSocial reveals the predictable perils within the tech companies' business model.
Too easy.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Groupon Inc. is buying LivingSocial Inc., merging the two “daily deal” titans into one business. It is a measure of the size of these titans that, as TechCrunch writes, “The LivingSocial deal, which is expected to close in November 2016, is ‘not material’ to Groupon’s earnings, meaning it is small enough that Groupon does not have to disclose the price.”
Groupon itself has fallen considerably from its high-flying days as the New New Thing in tech stocks. It went public at $28 a share. It is now trading at around $4. Its net income hovers around 0 percent, and the company announced further retrenchment around the same time it announced the LivingSocial merger.