Deal-of-the-day website operator Groupon is believed to have walked away from a $6 billion offer from Google.
The company has chosen to stay independent and perhaps conduct an IPO, people close to the merger discussions have told All Things Digital, and Bloomberg.
The decision on a Groupon IPO will be made in 2011, the sources said.
Groupon's potential valuation has shot up from just $1.3 billion in April. It turned down a $3 billion offer from Yahoo earlier this year, and reportedly rejected Google's initial approach for between $3.5 billion and $4 billion.
The company may actually have annual revenues of $2 billion, compared to the widely reported $500 million, All Things Digital's sources claimed. Groupon typically takes a 50% cut of sales through its site, and has over 35 million users.
The acquisition, had it gone through, would have been Google's largest – nearly double the $3.2 billion it paid for display ad company DoubleClick.
Some sources have claimed that the deal may be dead but not buried. Talks could resume if Groupon changes its mind, they said.
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