Livingsocial.com, Online Coupons | featured news

In groups of four, the soon-to-be graduates of LivingSocial’s inaugural Hungry Academy stepped in front of their peers last week to present their capstone projects: a fully functional Web site built to help school teachers raise money for classroom projects.

Daily deal distributor LivingSocial doled out $142.9 million in equity as part of its agreement to buy South Korea-based discount site TicketMonster, according to a source familiar with the purchase. The District-based company, which declared the transaction in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday, has been on a buying binge in recent months as it looks to expand its global footprint through the acquisition of daily deal Web sites in overseas markets.

LivingSocial has picked Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank to lead-underwrite an IPO that could value the daily deals site at $10 billion to $15 billion, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

LivingSocial has raised $400 million to help fuel its expansion and keep up with rival coupon website Groupon.

LivingSocial is in active talks with investors to raise around $400 million to $500 million to help fuel its expansion and keep up with rival Groupon.