Groupon rival LivingSocial is getting a $175 million investment from Amazon as Google continues its push to buy Groupon, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Sunday.
LivingSocial, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., also said that it would be getting $8 million in funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, according to the Sun-Times.
The two social-coupon websites both offer select geographically-targeted deals to users. However, LivingSocial is the undeniable underdog in the daily-deal site battle, as it generates only about one-third the amount of revenue that Groupon (more than $1 billion per year) does.
Google, which is seeking to acquire Chicago-based Groupon, recently had its $6 billion offer rejected by the deals site, The Epoch Times reported previously, citing the New York Times.
However, the two sides are still talking, and if the two companies agree to an amount larger than the rebuffed offer, it will be the largest acquisition in Google history.
LivingSocial, while smaller than Groupon, has a stronger focus on networking with friends who are also on the site, allowing them to share favorite cafes, restaurants, spas, and other places of interest. It has 10 million subscribers in 111 markets in the United States, Canada, the U.K., and Ireland, while Groupon has 35 million users in 300 regions.
