Groupon has already raised about $500 million in this latest funding round, and expects to sell another $450 million in shares to investors, according to a

About $345 million of the money will be used as payments to executive officers, directors and promoters of the privately-held company, which was launched in 2008.

The funding round could put Groupon's valuation at close to $8 billion, according to the venture capital news and information site VCExperts.com,

Chicago-based Groupon declined to comment.

In early December, Google and Groupon reportedly reached advanced negotiations for the search company to buy the online coupon distributor. However, Groupon walked away from Google's reportedly $6 billion offer.