The company also says physical goods sales jumped 38% in Q3.

Groupon Inc. today announced a deal to acquire Ticket Monster, a Korean site that sells event tickets, products and offers, from Groupon’s biggest U.S. competitor, LivingSocial Inc. Groupon will pay roughly $260 million for the Korean site—$100 million in cash and up to $160 million in stock.

“Ticket Monster has been successful in building a mobile commerce business in one of the largest markets in the world,” says CEO Eric Lefkofsky. “It will serve as the cornerstone of our Asian business, bringing scale and e-commerce expertise to that region.”

The daily-deal operator announced the acquisition at the same time it reported its third quarter earnings. Groupon’s earnings show that the company continues to register strong gains in selling physical merchandise through its Groupon Goods limited-time sale program launched in 2011. Groupon Goods accounted for a third of the revenue for the company, which generates most of its revenue from selling discount vouchers.

The company disclosed today that Groupon Goods sales increased 38% in the third quarter of this year. Those product sales helped boost the company’s North American revenue 23.7%. However, international sales declined 15.5% overall for Groupon in the third quarter.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, Groupon, No. 65 in the 2013 Top 500 Guide, reported:

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  • Revenue increased 4.7% to $595.1 million, compared with $568.6 million in the third quarter of 2012.
  • North American revenue of approximately $360.8 million, a 23.7% jump from $291.6 million a year earlier.
  • International sales of $234.2 million, a 15.5% decline from $277 million in 2012.
  • Revenue for Groupon Goods reached $200.1 million in the third quarter, compared with $145 million for the same period last year, an increase of 38%.
  • Operating income of $39.2 million, down 22.4% from $50.5 million in 2012.
  • A net loss of $2.6 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $3 million.
  • Gross billings, which reflects the total amount consumers paid for Groupon vouchers, excluding applicable taxes and refunds, stood at $1.34 billion, a 9.8% increase from $1.22 billion in 2012.

For the first three quarters of the year, Groupon reported:

  • Revenue increased 6.4% to $1.805 billion, compared with $ 1.696 billion in the same period in 2012.
  • North American revenue of approximately $1.078 billion, a 36.4% jump from $790.3 million a year earlier.
  • International sales of $727.6 million, a 19.7% decline from $905.9 million in 2012.
  • Groupon Goods revenue of $552.2 million, up from $229.6 million in 2012, a 140.5% increase.
  • Operating income of $149.3 million, down 21.4% from $190 million in 2012.
  • A net loss of $14.1 million, compared with a year-ago profit of $13.7 million.
  • Gross billings stood at $4.16 billion, a 7.8% increase from $3.86 billion in 2012.

Groupon also reported that in September more than half of North American transactions were completed on mobile devices. More than 60 million people have downloaded Groupon mobile apps worldwide, the company says, with more than 9 million people downloading them in the third quarter alone.

 

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