Goldman’s Blankfein Pitches For Groupon’s IPO: Report

Goldman’s Blankfein Pitches For Groupon’s IPO: Report

By Reuters

  • 15 Jan 2011

Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein went to Chicago to pitch Groupon executives on hiring his bank to underwrite the online coupon company's initial public offering, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The report was attributed to a single unnamed source.

Banks are currently pitching to underwrite a "meaningfully sized" Groupon IPO, a source previously told Reuters.

Top bank executives sometimes attend so-called "bakeoff" meetings to pitch their banks' ability to underwrite significant IPOs -- but Blankfein is not known for doing so.

Blankfein did not attend the so-called "bakeoff" meetings for General Motors Co's record-setting IPO or American International Group Inc's coming share sale.

A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Groupon was not immediately available for comment.