Groupon IPO values company at $12.7 billion

The initial public offering for daily deal site Groupon raised $700 million as one of the most exciting Internet IPOs in a while.

That sale of stock puts the company’s total value at around $12.7 billion, a staggering figure by any estimation and one that proves how right Groupon was for rejecting a deal from Google a while back for a $7 billion buyout.

At the end of the day, IPO prices went for $20 a share, more than 30% what Groupon was seeking. 35 million shares were sold. This is the biggest IPO in the US stock market since Google’s IPO back in 2004.

Ever since the site began to swell into something more than just a novelty, skeptics have questioned whether or not Groupon has staying power. But the company has been on a mission to prove to those naysayers that it can compete with all the other Internet big boys.

Groupon’s profitability has climbed on an exponential scale; once it was able to differentiate itself and stand apart from the many other online gimmicks, huge retailers and corporations came on board and made it easy for Groupon’s cut of deal sales to become more substantial every day.

The company has also been a champion of smart marketing strategies, making its messages targeted to segmented audiences and making the ads relevant enough that people can’t help but click through to the site.

The new stock symbol for Groupon is GRPN and is traded on the Nasdaq exchange.