=Groupon (GRPN) reported earnings on Wed 26 Oct 2016 (a/h)

Groupon to buy LivingSocial
Nearly three years ago, Groupon bought TicketMonster, a South Korean deals company owned by LivingSocial, for $260 million. It later sold a 46 percent stake to private-equity firm KKR for $360 million.

Groupon will acquire about 1 million new customers and about 180 employees from LivingSocial. It's not clear whether Groupon will keep the LivingSocial brand.

“We've watched them closely for a long time,” said CEO Rich Williams. “There are still a lot of people with loyalty to that brand. It's a team that knows the space pretty well. It's an opportunity to accelerate customer growth.”

Groupon raised its full-year guidance on revenue to $3.075 billion to $3.150 billion. Analysts had been expecting full-year revenue of $3.05 billion.

Williams said Groupon beat analyst expectations and raised its forecast.

“I guess a beat and raise isn't what it used to be,” Williams said. “People are probably going to need some context on this transaction.”

Its North American local deals business grew 10 percent in gross revenue in the third quarter, compared with 5 percent in the first quarter.

“We feel like we're on a good, solid trajectory,” Williams said.