Groupon is thinking about delaying its IPO, according to a report in the WSJ today. The company had intended to go public after Labor Day, according to the article, but is now “reevaluating plans for an initial public offering in the face of stock-market volatility” and has canceled its plans for its IPO roadshow, which was slated for next week.
The news comes two weeks after an internal memo penned by Groupon CEO Andrew Mason was leaked during the company’s quiet period, during which Groupon isn’t allowed to make public statements — SEC investigators are currently looking into the matter. However, according to the WSJ’s anonymous source, the delay has more to do with “recent fluctuations in the stock market” rather than the SEC scrutiny.
Groupon spurned a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google last December, and filed for its IPO in June. It’s been the target of plenty of criticism over its financials and business model since then, and there’s speculation that the aforementioned memo was intentionally leaked to combat this criticism.