Rockwell Advisors: In the biggest internet IPO since Google, Groupon raises $700 million.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 4, 2011 -- The world leader in "daily deals" is now valued at nearly $13 billion after announcing that it had increased the offering by 5 million shares to a total of 35 million and had priced them at $20 each, above an initial range of $16 to $18, Rockwell Advisors was told.

The debut of the three-year-old firm, which markets Internet vouchers for everything from spa treatments to vehicle services, is one of 2011 most closely watched. Its tiny float represents just above 5% of the company and helped drive up demand and price.

That constraint -- one of the smallest floats of the last ten years -- should support Groupon's share price when it begins trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker GRPN, analysts informed Rockwell Advisors.

But in the longer term, they voiced concerns about competition from the deep-pocketed likes of Google and Amazon.com Inc; the need to spend continuously to drive user growth; and questions about accounting after the company altered its IPO filings twice to change the way it accounted for revenue.

"Groupon is expensive. The $12.8 billion valuation is only achievable because of the low float," Rob Romero, head of technology-focused hedge fund firm Connective Capital Management told Rockwell Advisors.

"Today's reaction to LinkedIn floating additional share supply is an indication of how tight supply-demand of shares can distort valuation for a new IPO."
LinkedIn, which remains well above its $45 IPO price, dropped 9% after-hours after unveiling a proposal to sell up to $500 million in stock. It had floated 8.3% of its shares during the IPO.

At $12.8 billion, Groupon now commands a price tag more double what Google offered to buy the company for in 2010.

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