Google Groans Amid Acquisition Rumors
Google's
response has been added to this story.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (
) --
(GOOG) - Get Report
shares slumped on Tuesday amid ongoing chatter about a possible
acquisition of online discounter Groupon
and
an impending EU antitrust probe.
The search giant's shares closed down $26.4, or 4.54%, at $555.71 on Tuesday, far outpacing the broader retreat in tech stocks that saw the Nasdaq slip 1.07%. Shares of search sector rivals
Yahoo
(YHOO)
and
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
also closed down, falling 3.45% and 0.21%, respectively.
|
Citing sources close to the situation, the
Wall Street Journal
blog
reported that Google has offered $5.3 billion for Groupon, in what would be the search giant's biggest-ever acquisition.
The
New York Times
, also citing people with direct knowledge of the matter, reports Google could acquire Groupon for between $5 billion to $6 billion.
Amid the chatter, some investors and analysts have expressed worries about spending a record amount of capital for a startup that may not fit into Google's corporate culture, while others have applauded the deal, noting that Groupon could serve as a springboard for Google into local advertising.
Google, however, declined to provide comment for this story when contacted by
TheStreet
. "We don't comment on rumor or speculation," explained a Google spokesman, in an email.
--Written by James Rogers in New York.
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