LivingSocial Moving Ahead With $1 Billion IPO: Source

Online daily deal site LivingSocial is meeting with banks to discuss an initial public offering of about $1 billion, according to a source familiar the situation.

The amount values the Washington, D.C. based company in the range of $10 billion to $15 billion, according to the source.

A representative for LivingSocial declined to comment.

LivingSocial is the latest Internet startup seeking to woo investors who are piling into social media companies such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Groupon and Facebook.

Online gaming company Zynga is expected to file for its IPO on Thursday that could value the company as high as $20 billion.

LivingSocial is the No. 2 U.S. social deal site behind Groupon, which filed for its public debut and plans to raise $750 million that could value the company at $15 billion to $20 billion.

LivingSocial offers discounts on restaurant dining, lodging and other items, alerting its 39 million members via email about the deals. It gets its revenue from local merchants that agree to the discounts.

The company expects revenue of $1 billion this year.

In April, LivingSocial raised $400 million in a round of funding that included LightSpeed Venture Partners and Amazon giving it a value of about $3 billion.

LivingSocial is expected to pick lead underwriting banks by the end of the week, according to CNBC, which first reported the news.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba, editing by Bernard Orr)