Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein visited the Chicago headquarters of Groupon yesterday to pitch executives on hiring his firm for an initial public offering this year, a source familiar with the matter said.
Morgan Stanley is also in talks with Groupon to arrange an IPO, said the source, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
Blankfein’s visit reflects the rising interest in working with Groupon, a two-year-old company that rebuffed a $6 billion takeover offer from Google Inc. last month and this week announced a round of funding.