LivingSocial closes $176 million round. How far off is an IPO?

Daily deals site LivingSocial has closed a monster $176 million round of financing, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission today. VentureBeat has learned that the $176 million is the first tranche of  $400 million the company hopes to raise over the next weeks and months to finance continued operations and expansion.

We reported in mid-November that the company was looking to raise $200 million at a $5 billion valuation. Investment bank … Continue Reading

How Zynga’s IPO went from a $20B valuation to $8.9B in five months

When credible reports about Zynga’s upcoming IPO filing started flying this July, expectations for the social gaming giant’s value were running $15 billion to $20 billion. Now, with Zynga detailing the offering ahead of trading set to start December 15th, the actual offering price could value the company from $5.9 billion to $6.99 billion, or $7.6 billion to $8.9 billion including employee stock options.

With options included, Zynga’s value will be $7.6 billion to $8.9 … Continue Reading

Zynga IPO set for Dec. 15 at $10B valuation?

Social game maker Zynga is reportedly planning to go public on Dec. 15 at a valuation of $10 billion, according to a report by Reuters.

The valuation is much lower than the $15 billion to $20 billion that was rumored as Zynga’s expected valuation when it filed papers to go public on July 1. Reuters cited two unnamed sources close to the process.

The IPO will generate about $900 million in proceeds at a price … Continue Reading

Take Two CEO attacks Zynga for “sketchy” metrics and biz model

Zynga‘s tens of millions of regular players and burgeoning revenues have many investors excited about its fast approaching Initial Public Offering, but Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is definitely not one of them.

Zelnick attempted to throw some cold water on that fiery excitement yesterday with comments that cut directly into some of the  social gaming leader’s perceived weaknesses.

Speaking at the Reuters Global Media Summit, Zelnick said he saw “disclosure issues” at the company, … Continue Reading

Facebook’s New Year’s resolution: Go public

With 2011 winding to a close, talk of Facebook’s long-rumored 2012 initial public offering is crescendoing to cacophonous levels. A new report purporting that Facebook is targeting an IPO date between April and June of the upcoming year is adding to the orchestra.

Facebook is looking to raise $10 billion at a $100 billion valuation through the offering, has its paperwork ready to go, and is already in talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission … Continue Reading

Zynga employees give Mark Pincus a 46 percent approval rating

The claws are out for Mark Pincus, chief executive of social game maker Zynga, today. First, the New York Times published a negative story on a potential talent drain at the social game company. Now Glass Door, the career services firm, says that Pincus has a 46 percent approval rating among his employees.

That means 56 percent of the employees surveyed by Glass Door have a negative view of Pincus, whose company is about to … Continue Reading

Nexon will hold $1.3B IPO on Dec. 6 (exclusive)

Online gaming firm Nexon is expected to go public on Dec. 6 in Japan, VentureBeat has learned. The company, which was started in Korea and moved its headquarters to Tokyo, is expected to raise $1.28 billion in its initial public offering. [Update: the price was set on Dec. 6. The IPO will be Dec.14]

Next to Zynga’s expected IPO, the Nexon deal is one of the biggest pending IPOs in the video game industry and … Continue Reading

Xunlei, despite canceling IPO, is still raising U.S. copyright concerns

Xunlei, the Chinese Internet company whose IPO was scheduled, then postponed indefinitely this summer, is now catching U.S. legislators’ attention.

VentureBeat guest contributor and Shanghai-based lawyer Greg Pilarowski wrote a column in July comparing Xunlei’s media download business to the peer-to-peer file sharing technologies used by Napster and Grokster, both now defunct thanks to their facilitation of rampant copyright violation. He points out that 234 copyright-infringement cases were brought against Xunlei in China in 2009 … Continue Reading

LivingSocial set to raise almost $200M at $5B valuation

Daily deals site LivingSocial is close to raising nearly $200 million in venture financing, which will value the site at $5 billion, The New York Times has reported, citing unnamed sources close to the matter. Previous LivingSocial investors such as Amazon.com are expected to participate along with new investors, according to the Times.

LivingSocial is America’s second largest daily deals site after Groupon, which listed itself on the NASDAQ exchange on Nov. 4.  The money … Continue Reading

Wayfair CEO talks Groupon IPO and the e-commerce deals industry

Wayfair.com recently surpassed Crate and Barrel to be the number two home goods website, is expecting $500 million in revenue this year, and closed a $165 million round of funding. We sat down with Niraj Shah, co-founder and chief executive officer of the e-commerce deals site, to get his thoughts on the Groupon IPO and the current e-commerce landscape.

Groupon had its initial public offering earlier this month, peaking at $30 a share, and closing … Continue Reading

Angie’s List IPO leaves company valued at $801M

Angie’s List shares closed today at $3.26 above their $13 starting price, down from an $18.75 peak.

So far, the stock price has risen 25.08 percent in trading during its first day on the public market.

The stock (ticker symbol ANGI) has seen a few ups and downs so far on the NASDAQ, but it’s still trading above the initial price. The company’s initial public offering raised $130 million for the company.

The closing price … Continue Reading

Review this: Yelp files for a $100M IPO

Famed review website Yelp filed for a $100 million initial public offering today, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company has not been shy about its plans to IPO. Indeed, it even stated so at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat conference this year. Chief executive officer Jeremy Stoppelman said, “We’re venture backed. We’re going to go public.”

The company began getting its IPO ducks in row with the late July hiring of Yelp … Continue Reading

Angie’s List posts $13 IPO share price, as offering window creaks open

As the tech IPO window creaks open, contractor reviewing site Angie’s List has announced a $13 opening share price for a planned initial public offering later this month.

Evelyn Rusli of The New York Times reports that the company plans to raise approximately $114.3 million by issuing 8.79 million shares, with underwriters Bank of America Merrill Lynch keeping open the option of adding an additional 1.3 million shares, if the initial flotation is oversubscribed.

Angie’s … Continue Reading

Groupon’s IPO by the numbers (infographic)

More than a fifth of people who bought Groupon stock on the day of its initial public offering sold their shares the same day.

That fact, among other interesting tidbits, is revealed by research conducted by SigFig, which tracks more than $20 billion in customer investments across more than 65 different brokerages.

SigFig assembled the infographic below, showing Groupon’s timeline to IPO as well as data about what happened to its stock after it started … Continue Reading

Will Zynga’s snafu over employee stock impact its coming IPO?

Social gaming powerhouse Zynga has been the buzz of the blogosphere today and the star of a back-and-forth over whether the startup is being equitable with how it hands out (and possibly takes back) equity to employees.

Originally, the Wall Street Journal reported Zynga executives, including CEO Mark Pincus (pictured), had decided to take back employee stock in light of the startup’s coming IPO. According to the Journal’s sources, company leadership started giving employees an … Continue Reading

Yelp brings on big bankers and solidifies plans for IPO

‘Tis the season for Internet company IPOs. Veteran local business review site Yelp has signed on bankers Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to lead its initial public offering at a valuation between $1 and $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.

Yelp could file with the SEC to become a publicly traded company as soon as early 2012, according to the Journal’s sources.

Yelp, founded in 2004, lets users post restaurant and venue reviews. The … Continue Reading

Zynga said to eye post-Thanksgiving IPO window

Zynga may float its initial public offering after the Nov. 24 Thanksgiving holiday, according to two sources close to the matter who spoke with Bloomberg.

The social game maker, responsible for titles such as Farmville and Empires & Allies, filed its S-1 on July 1, and many expected the company to list itself on the NASDAQ exchange by this time. Zynga is hoping to raise $1 billion in its IPO.

A representative from Zynga told … Continue Reading

Groupon’s best deal yet: stock jumps 40% to $28 in IPO

Groupon shares soared in early trading this morning to $28, a 40 percent increase over its $20 price announced last night, as the company made its initial public offering.

The $28 opening price puts Groupon’s market value at $17.8 billion.

At it’s opening price, the company was valued at about $12.7 billion, which was less than the company’s original expectations that it would be valued between $15 billion and $20 billion at the opening price. … Continue Reading