Groupon Singapore sold at an undisclosed sum

Online daily deal vouchers and discounts platform Groupon Singapore has been sold to Fave Group for an undisclosed sum, the local media reported.

Reports said the transaction is expected to close this week.

This comes after the Southeast Asia’s online-to-offline (O2O) e-commerce company Fave – formerly known as KFit Group – acquired Groupon Indonesia and Malaysia last year.

In 2015, Groupon cut over 1,000 jobs and closed down operations in seven countries as it struggled with slow growth, the company’s chief operating officer Rich Williams wrote in a blog post.

“We saw that the investment required to bring our technology, tools and marketplace to every one of our 40+ countries isn’t commensurate with the return at this point. We believe that in order for our geographic footprint to be an even bigger advantage, we need to focus our energy and dollars on fewer countries. So, we decided to exit a number of countries where the required investment and market potential don’t align. You likely saw that we recently exited Greece and Turkey. We are also ceasing operations in Morocco, Panama, The Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Thailand and Uruguay,” Mr Williams wrote.

The acquisiton is set to solidify Fave’s efforts in helping consumers save, while driving growth for local businesses across the region, as reported.

Fave Singapore managing director Ng Aik-Phong was reported in the local media saying: “With one of the highest smartphone penetration rates in the world at 85 per cent and a highly competitive market for offline businesses, Fave’s ability to connect digitally savvy consumers to offline businesses will play a key role in the company’s success in the region.”

Fave said its mission is to help local businesses across Southeast Asia grow and adopt technology in digital payments, e-commerce and mobile, with the aim of leading O2O local commerce in the region.