Posts Tagged ‘GRPN’

Groupon, Inc. (GRPN) soars after announcement of new credit card payment system

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012

Shares of Groupon, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRPN) were up more than 10 percent from Tuesday’s closing price in morning trading on Wednesday after the company announced the launch of Groupon Payments, a new service that offers merchants a low-cost option to accept credit cards.

Groupon shares touched a high of $5.17 in morning trading on Wednesday, up from Tuesday’s closing price of $4.69.

According to a September 19 press release, Groupon Payments allows any merchant that runs a deal with Groupon in the U.S. to accept payments “at the lowest rates in today’s market place.” The press release stated that MasterCard, Visa and Discover transactions will cost merchants 1.8 percent and a 15 cent transaction fee, and American Express transactions will cost merchants 3 percent plus a 15 percent transaction fee.

“Our goal is to provide merchants with the most affordable and powerful tools to run and grow their businesses,” said Mihir Shah, VP Mobile and Merchant Products at Groupon in the September 19 press release. “With groundbreaking pricing and service, Groupon Payments does just that.”

The technology was initially tested int he San Francisco Bay area. And although the rates may seem attractive, Groupon faces stiff competition from EBay’s PayPal unit and Square, a service founded by Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter).

Despite the competition, Groupon’s rates are somewhat lower than competitors’ rates. Square charges 2.75 percent per swipe, or $275 per month. PayPal charges 2.7 percent, the Associated Press reported.

Shares of Groupon are down about 50 percent over the past three months.

Groupon, Inc. (GRPN) pops on first day of trading

Friday, November 4th, 2011

Shares of daily deals site, Groupon, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRPN) surged nearly 50 percent in its debut on the Nasdaq on Friday. Groupon shares touched a high of $31.14 in morning trading on Friday up from its IPO price of $20 per share.

The company on Thursday sold 35 million shares for $20 each, raising $700 million. It had filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell 30 million shares for $16 to $18 each.

The three-year-old company is one of this year’s most hyped IPOs, and has one of the smallest floats of the past 10-years — slightly more than 5 percent of the company.

“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 Reuters.

At $12.8 billion, Groupon’s price tag is more than two-times what Google offered for the company last year.

Groupon “is a company with permission to market to 150 million consumers daily. No other company in the world has ever had that type of reach,” Boyan Josic, chief executive at DailyDealMedia, which tracks the industry, told Reuters.