Fast-growing international deal-of-the-day website Groupon has acquired SA e-commerce provider Twangoo. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.

The Twangoo acquisition comes on the same day that Groupon has announced the acquisitions of SoSasta in India and Grouper in Israel. The three acquisitions will be rebranded Groupon India, Groupon Israel and Groupon South Africa.

Chicago-based Groupon has been in the headlines recently, first for rejecting a reported US$3bn offer from Yahoo in October, and last month spurning a $5,3bn offer from Google. Analysts say the company could go public within the next two years.

The company describes itself as the world’s leading collecting buying website, offering consumers discounts on things to do, east, see and buy through its daily deals. Twangoo, founded by entrepreneurs Daniel Guasco and Wayne Gosling, offers similar services to SA cities Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria.

According to Groupon, Twangoo has rapidly grown to serve the most cities of any deal site in SA.

“Collective buying is in its infancy in India, Israel and SA and we see strong potential,” says Groupon president and chief operating officer Rob Solomon in a statement.

Groupon has 50m registered subscribers in 40 countries worldwide and employees more than 4 000 people in 40 countries. Groupon employs more than 4,000 people worldwide. — Staff reporter, TechCentral