Google Groupon deal falls through

Talks between Google and US coupon and voucher website Groupon have broken down regarding the Internet giant’s plan to acquire the rapidly growing Groupon.

The sale was expected to fetch up to $6 billion in a deal which had set tongues wagging on Wall Street about whether such a valuation represented good value for Google.

However Groupon had been playing hard to get, spurning offers from previous firms such as Yahoo and walking away from a deal with Google in favour of a possible public offering in 2011.

Had Google acquired Groupon it would have gained a valuable foothold into a business network focusing on local-level retailers and provided Google the means to add coupon offerings into the services on offer for the firm’s vast array of advertisers.

In just two years Groupon has grown to 3,000 employees with annual revenue of around $500 million.