Where a Google-Groupon Deal Would Have Ranked In History
Google’s highly anticipated acquisition of Groupon appears to be dead in the water. But for anyone on the fence about whether today’s sky-high valuations of tech companies are more than a little reminiscent of the excesses of the dot-com era, this might tip you over.
If Google had acquired Groupon for up to $6 billion, the deal would have been the largest for a venture-backed company since 1999 and the third largest acquisition on record, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.
The only two acquisitions on record larger than $5 billion are Cisco Systems’ acquisition of Cerent, a developer of communications products, for $6.9 billion in 1999, and US West Media’s acquisition of Continental Cablevision, a provider of cable television and Internet services, for $11.8 billion in 1996.
