Media Coverage
Source: MarketWatch
Media Coverage
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
06.07.11
Just as Groupon Inc. announced its plans for an IPO, some comments by its executive may lead to regulatory enforcement of some kind, the article reports, comparing the situation to the Playboy interview by the Google founders ended up in their SEC filing.
“Groupon’s lawyers are doing some very hard thinking right now,” said Matthew Swartz, an Emerging Growth & Venture Capital partner in Pillsbury’s Northern Virginia office who focuses on SEC and IPO work. “There will be a consequence, I expect.”
Swartz added that the agency requires a ‘quiet period’ — though the SEC doesn’t use that term — to keep insiders from pumping up the stock.
While rules were more lenient in 2005 to allow for more communications between companies headed for public markets and the general investing community, "the SEC still watches whether firms are making comments in an effort to prepare the market for their offering,” said Swartz.