Groupon- Is the Company Bargaining on an IPO...

Groupon, a hugely successful coupon website, is said to be considering an initial public offering this year and is reportedly meeting with securities firms interested in handling the sale, according to sources.

If an offering goes ahead, it could value the company at $15 billion a source is reported saying in The San Francisco Chronicle.

The IPO talks follow Groupon announcing a $950 million round of funding.

Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, visited Groupon's Chicago headquarters on Friday to pitch executives on hiring his firm for a potential share sale this year, a source told Bloomberg.

Morgan Stanley is also in talks with Groupon, to arrange an initial public offering, said the source.

Last month, Groupon CEO Andrew Mason rejected a $6 billion takeover offer from Mountain View's Google. At the time an unidentified source said the company was looking to take the business public.

Groupon was founded in 2008 and has quickly grown, with more than 50 million users.