Urban Escapes has been extremely successful since its start two years ago; O’Shaughnessy says the company’s revenue is in the seven-figures and it now has 35 employees. O’Shaughnessy’s rationale for the purchase: “We are all about providing people in local markets with things at great value. If you look at Urban Escapes they do that better than just about everybody out there.” He says that Urban Escapes will gradually get “more and more” LivingSocial branding. 

LivingSocial currently offers daily deals in 100 cities. O’Shaughnessy wouldn’t say how many of those markets would soon offer Urban Escapes, saying he did not have a “time frame” to expand it. He said the company was also on the look-out for other unique deals it could offer to “help us differentiate,” although he said they won’t necessarily come via acquisitions. He noted, for instance, that the company recently partnered with the Washington Nationals to provide customers with a special “Day at the Ballpark” package.

—Deal talk? Rival Groupon has been the subject of non-stop acquisition rumors, so I asked O’Shaughnessy whether his company had been approached as well. He said the company was “committed” to its current efforts and had its “head down” trying to build the business.