MEDIA OCEAN'S TIES TO GROUPON - OCEANS APART?



GroupOn backers Eric Lefkosky and Brad Keywell, with investments in a host of companies, most notable among them in our world, Media Ocean, have much to explain concerning the financial chess game at GroupOn.

What follows is a recent piece by Chris Nemey, at IT World, on GroupOn’s state of affairs which have since driven the stock price to a new low of $12.58 as of this writing.

As for Media Ocean, a merged entity between Donovan Data and Mediabank, I cannot help but wonder if whatever financial games going on at GroupOn could trickle down to the “Ocean” as Mediabank takes firm management hold.

“Just days after Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) had to make yet another revision to its finances, just days after the daily-deals site settled an $8.5 million combined lawsuit regarding illegal coupon expiration dates, just days after the Chicago firm was hit with a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of misleading investors, and just days after it was announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission was again investigating Groupon, the company's stock continues to attract buyers.

Seriously, what is wrong with these people?

Groupon's stock is now selling for less than half its IPO, and I'll tell you right now it's never going to climb above $30 again. The company continues to lose a ton of money, and it essentially has no internal controls.

But you'd think people jumping on board now would know better. Hey, new Groupon investors, I hear Bernie Madoff's starting a new investment business from prison. Get in on the bottom floor!

Maybe they think they're getting some kind of bargain because Groupon hit a new low of 14.01 early Thursday (shares were at 14.35 in the early afternoon). Well, if it's lows they're looking for, they should be more patient because more new ones are coming.

However, they'd be better off being smart than patient. Here's the thing, investors: Whether it's due to incompetence or something far worse, Groupon has proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that it can't be trusted.

Investors aren't supposed to sink money into something they don't trust. That's what casinos are for.”

Disclosure: I am short GroupOn

1 comment:

Robert said...

in the last month, 63 have been let go at media ocean ny, and london has been notified of an upcoming downsizing. a new hr director has been hired, previously from google.