Groupon, the world's leading collective buying website, has bought out Twangoo, a South African buying and deals website.
Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Groupon, described as a "city guide that helps people explore their local environment and save money while doing it", is based in Chicago said in a statement it had acquired Twangoo to increase its reach in new global market. It has also announced acquisitions in Israel and India.
It focuses on joining providers of products and services and consumers and offers discounts and daily deals on activities to do, places, to eat and see and where to buy.
Twangoo is a South African collective buying and deals website. It serves consumers in Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria. It would be rebranded to Groupon South Africa in coming months.
Its founders Daniel Guasco and Wayne Gosling will remain with the company on a contract basis for the next three years, Guasco said.
He said the company had received two international bids and three offers from local companies looking to buy his company.
Twangoo was established in June last year out of a quest to explore various entrepreneurial opportunities. By December it had attracted about 100 000 people to the site and netted revenue in excess of R1 million, according to Guasco.
"We were looking at different entrepreneurial opportunities . We came across the valuation of Groupon at that stage it was $1.3 billion. We looked at the model and though there's got to be an opportunity for this in South Africa."
Guasco said a focus within the next four to six weeks would be to grow sales and staff.
"Groupon is the fastest growing tech company in the world. It puts Africa on the map and specifically South Africa. It highlights to international media that this is a place where e-commerce can work."
"It could become one of the largest economic players in South Africa," he said.
Groupon more than 4000 people worldwide and has over 50 million subscribers.
"Collective buying is in its infancy in India, Israel and South Africa and we see strong potential," said Rob Solomon, president and chief operating officer of Groupon. "Groupon is shaping the way local merchants market themselves in every corner of the world."
Groupon rejected multibillion dollar bids from Yahoo and Google last year and is rumoured to launch an initial public offering this year. - Asha Speckman