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Groupon Appoints New CEO, Forecasts Weak 2016

The company said Lefkofsky would return to the role of chairman of the board. Groupon reported a loss of $27.6 million, or four cents a share.

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The announcement came at the same time as the online retailer revealed its results for the third quarter of 2015, showing that revenues had dropped slightly to $713.6m (£462.9m), compared to $714.3m during the same period past year. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.02 per share on revenue of $732.7 million.

Groupon shares rose 0.74 percent to $4.06 in the after-hours trading session.

Groupon was founded in 2008 by Lefkofsky, Mason and Brad Keywell ⇒ and went public on November 4, 2011, at $28 per share after famously spurning a $6 billion offer from Google.

While Williams takes over a company with a few financial metrics such as revenue and Ebitda in a stronger place than when Lefkofsky took over, Groupons market cap is just $2.5 billion and the companys future continues to be cloudy as the daily-deal fad evaporates.

To that end, Williams, who was Groupons chief marketing officer for his first three-plus years at the company, plans to increase marketing spend to attract new users to the new Groupon.

The company said the change in focus was expected to lower its current-quarter revenue by $50 million-$100 million. In this role, he helped steer North America to five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth.

“We are fully confident we have identified the best leader for our employees, customers, partners and shareholders”, said Ted Leonsis, who moved Tuesday from board chairman to lead independent director, in a statement.

Williams will be awarded 1.6 million restricted stock units.

“We’re still doing too many things in too many places at once”, Williams said in a phone interview.

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He advised listeners to watch for him to grow his team from within the company’s ranks.

Groupon's current chief operating officer is to be the company's newest chief executive officer