Groupon is close to retaining Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley as lead underwriters for a planned initial public offering later this year, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The banks, which haven’t yet been formally hired by Groupon, would help handle an IPO that’s likely to take place before October, said the person, who asked not to be named because the talks were private. Groupon has discussed terms that would value the company at between $15 billion and $25 billion.
Groupon, the top provider of online daily discounts, has drawn growing interest from Wall Street since December, when it decided to consider an IPO instead of accepting a $6 billion takeover bid from Google.
The company has been holding discussions with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and other banks since January, including a meeting with Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein at Groupon’s Chicago headquarters, a source said at the time.
Groupon offers discounts of as much as 90 percent from local businesses, such as restaurants, nail salons and clothing stores. It then keeps a portion of the revenue.
