Groupon sets new date for IPO, report says

Groupon has set a new date for its delayed IPO, The New York Times reported last night.

The daily-deals provider will now offer up its shares at the end of October or toward the beginning of November, The New York Times said, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the company's plans. In addition, Groupon will kick off an investor roadshow to promote its company to banks sometime next month, according to the Times.

Groupon filed its IPO papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June. The company said at the time that it wanted to raise $750 million in the stock offering. According to reports at the time, the daily-deals provider could raise that cash based on a valuation of between $20 billion and $25 billion.

Related stories:
• Groupon files its IPO papers
• Groupon postponing IPO over market chaos?
• Facebook putting off its IPO until late 2012?

Although Groupon was expected to go public in September, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the company balked at the idea, citing "volatility" on Wall Street. At the time, the Journal's sources said that Groupon wasn't sure when it would finally offer its shares.

Groupon isn't the only company thinking twice about going public. Social-gaming company Zynga has reportedly delayed its IPO, though the company has not confirmed that claim.

Holding off on an IPO right now might be a good idea. Over the last several weeks, stock prices have swung wildly, and investors have been less willing to drop cash into companies for fear of the U.S. economy continuing to worsen and Europe's economic crisis widening.

There may be one exception. Facebook may be enough to make investors rethink their market strategies. The only problem is, the world's largest social network continues to stall its IPO as well. The Financial Times reported yesterday that Facebook is now planning to go public in "late 2012" to keep employees focused on product development rather than their IPO payday. Since 2007, Facebook has been expected to go public, but with each passing year, it hasn't made any indication that it will, in fact, do so.

Online firms that have gone public this year have seen mixed results.

LinkedIn offered up its shares in May for $45. The networking site closed the first day at over $94, peaked in mid-July at nearly $110, and is currently trading at around $88. Russian search engine Yandex opened at $25 in late May. The company ended the first day at around $38. That was also the peak day for its stock. The company is currently trading at around $29.

Groupon did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.

Updated at 7:30 a.m. PT with more details about LinkedIn and Yandex.