Exclusive: Groupon subscribers jump to 115 million

By Alistair Barr

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Groupon Inc subscribers have more than doubled to 115 million so far this year, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Groupon had 50.58 million subscribers at the end of 2010. That jumped 64 percent to 83.1 million at the end of the first quarter.

Since then, the number of subscribers has climbed to 115 million, the person said. That means subscribers are up about 38 percent since March 31.

Most of the recent growth has not come through acquisitions because Groupon has not bought many companies lately, the person added.

Groupon filed plans in June for a $750 million initial public offering that may value the company at as much as $20 billion. However, Groupon is facing more competition from big rivals including Google Inc and Facebook.

"There are few growth opportunities on the scale of companies like Groupon," said Lou Kerner, vice president in equity research at Wedbush Securities covering social media and e-commerce. "That's really what a lot of investors are seeking today."

(Reporting by Alistair Barr; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)