Groupon Pulls Out of Greece and Turkey

The U.S. based global e-commerce company, Groupon, announced on Tuesday that it has pulled the plug on its operations in Greece and Turkey.

It is unclear whether or not financial turmoil in Greece contributed to the company's decision to cease operations there, or whether snap elections which are due to be held in both Greece and Turkey—announced last Thursday and yesterday respectively, contributed.

The company made the decision to pull out of Turkey after its Turkish office could not meet financial expectations, according to a source quoted in the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. The company entered the Turkish and Greek markets in 2010.

In a statement sent to Newsweek, a spokesperson said: "Groupon globally has made enormous strides in the past few years and our priority has always been to choose a path of growth and to make decisions in the best interest of Groupon as a whole.

"As we've evaluated our global footprint, we've closely examined the markets where the market potential and the required investment are equally matched. After careful consideration Groupon will discontinue Groupon Greece and Turkey operations as of August 24 2015. We will work closely with our merchants and customers to ensure that all Groupon commitments are met. Our focus is also on our staff in these markets and supporting them fully at this time."

Launched in 2008, Groupon offers customers discounts through purchased coupons for restaurants, retail stores, spas, theatres and much more. By 2011, it was operating in more than 40 countries, and was for a time the fastest growing company in the world.

At the end of June, Greek banks shut after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras imposed capital controls, limiting the amount of money people could withdraw from banks to 60 euro ($66) a day, and preventing them from moving money abroad.

The controls were eased last Tuesday, after the government announced that people would be able to transfer up to 500 euro ($570) out of the country a month.

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