LivingSocial Acquires Majority Stake in Let's Bonus and Grows International Footprint in Europe and South America

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the leading social commerce sites LivingSocial (www.LivingSocial.com) today announced it has acquired a majority stake in Let's Bonus, S.L. (www.LetsBonus.com), one of the pioneer social shopping sites in Europe. The partnership bolsters LivingSocial's rapid international expansion, making it now live in ten countries with the addition of Let's Bonus' Spain, Italy, Portugal, Argentina and Mexico presences. LivingSocial now has more than 16 million subscribers, is live in more than 170 markets, and is projected to book in excess of $500 million in revenue in 2011.

"The addition of Let's Bonus to the LivingSocial team is a great opportunity to expand into Latin America and continue our European growth," said Tim O'Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder of LivingSocial. "Not only is LivingSocial available in ten countries, but with this acquisition we've gone multilingual, offering deals in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. We're thrilled to expand our footprint with a company that believes in building the same great merchant and consumer relationships that LivingSocial has always upheld."

Launched in September 2009 in Barcelona, Let's Bonus helped to pioneer the collective buying movement in Europe and is the leader in the Spanish market. The company offers daily deals with discounts of up to 70% on fun, exclusive activities including gourmet dinners, luxury spas and romantic escapes. Let's Bonus has a strong management and sales team of more than 200 employees, including local city experts in each market where the company's daily deals program is live, and offices in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Rome, Milan, Lisbon, Buenos Aires and Mexico. Let's Bonus' "Planes de Viaje" section, which offers pre-packaged travel deals to users, also naturally supports LivingSocial Escapes' international expansion.

"LivingSocial is the perfect fit for Let's Bonus as we share the same goal of offering unique, top notch deals for subscribers," said Miguel Vicente, founder and CEO of Let's Bonus. "With LivingSocial's support, we look forward to growing Let's Bonus even faster and stronger throughout Europe and in South America."

As the online source to find amazing experiences at an unbeatable value, LivingSocial lets anyone experience the hottest restaurants, shops, activities and services in their area. The company has dedicated area experts on the ground in every location working directly with business owners, constantly researching the best in local adventures to bring a savings of at least 50% for consumers. In addition to the new European and South American markets, LivingSocial is live in the United States, Canada, UK, Ireland and Australia.

The Let's Bonus partnership continues LivingSocial's drumbeat of expansion, product development and innovation. In 2010, LivingSocial acquired adventure company Urban Escapes, and launched three new verticals including LivingSocial Escapes, a travel site that offers unbeatable savings on curated adventures, LivingSocial Family Edition and Campus Deals. In addition, the company has launched one market per day on average and has expanded its reach in Australia with a controlling stake in Jump On It.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

For a full list of markets where LivingSocial is live or to sign up, visit www.LivingSocial.com.

About LivingSocial

LivingSocial adds surprise to every calendar with handpicked daily deals you can share with friends.  Members enjoy at least 50% off on the coolest, local experiences. Local business owners get an easy and cost effective marketing tool to attract new, loyal customers. In 2010 one of the fastest growing companies in the space expanded with LivingSocial Escapes offering a "vacation in a box" for easy weekend trips at great value.  Based in Washington, DC, the international brand has saved its more than 16 million subscribers more than $280 million in 170+ markets.

Sign up for daily deals in your market for free or find out more information about LivingSocial at www.LivingSocial.com. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/livingsocial.

About Let's Bonus

Let's Bonus (www.LetsBonus.com) offers a deal every day to their on-line subscribers with fun and exclusive activities to enjoy in their cities, with discounts up to 70%, such as a gourmet dinner, a luxury spa or a romantic escapade. Let's Bonus is the pioneering collective buying website in Europe launched in Barcelona in September 2009 by Miguel Vicente.  Let's Bonus has a team of more 200 employees and is leading this market in Spain. The Spanish company is present in more than 5 countries: Spain, Italy, Portugal, Argentina and Mexico, and is operating in 25 cities. Let's Bonus has a local team of experts in all its cities that help their partners to promote their business. Let's Bonus has offices in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Rome, Milan, Lisbon, Buenos Aires and Mexico DF.

To find out more information about Let's Bonus, visit www.LetsBonus.com.

SOURCE LivingSocial