Nov. 30, 2010, 12:51 a.m. EST Google near deal to buy Groupon for $6 bln: report

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Google Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!goog/quotes/nls/goog (GOOG 576.20, -5.91, -1.02%) is near a deal to acquire closely held online discounter Groupon Inc. for as much as $6 billion, the New York Times reported on its website late Monday, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter. A deal in the $5 billion to $6 billion range would be the largest acquisition ever for Google, and could be struck as soon as this week, the report said. But the unidentified people said the talks still could fall apart.