Earlier this month, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was rumored to be making an acquisition deal with Yelp.com. Google was willing to pay about $550 million, but now there are reports surfacing that Yelp has turned down the acquisition offer. This is surprising considering that Yelp has a reputation for bullying local businesses over negative reviews.
Yelp raised a total of $31 million from VC firms and is going to earn roughly $30-$50 million in revenue this year. This places the company at a valuation of $200 million, another reason why turning down $550 million from Google seems like an illogical move.
Why would Yelp turn Google down? Clearly Yelp believes that they could grow at a faster pace as an independent company. If the company made roughly $50 million in 2009, then I would not be surprised if they make at least $75 million in 2010.
This article is what's wrong with this country. Sometimes bigger is not better and some people still care to keep things owned by non-corporate Goliaths!!! And imagine that (gasp) they would turn down lots of money to do so.
Wow. Principled action. Learn it someday, corporate America.