Chicago-headquartered online deals company Groupon has appointed Dane Drobny as its new general counsel (GC).
Drobny joins from Illinois-headquartered Sears Holdings, the tenth-largest retailer by revenue in the US, after a four-year stint as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. He replaces current GC David Schellhase who will remain with Groupon as a strategic advisor.
Drobny, who was previously a partner at Winston & Strawn, where he spent 16 years before joining Sears Holdings, joins Groupon as part of a senior reshuffle that expands the board to eight directors, six of whom are independent directors. He has also been named senior vice president and corporate secretary and will join Groupon on 7 July alongside new chief financial officer Ann Ziegler, who arrives following a five-year stint at Nasdaq-listed software company CDW.
‘We’re excited to have Dane join us as GC,’ said Groupon’s CEO Eric Lefkofsky. ‘His retail expertise will be a great addition to our talented senior leadership team.’
Groupon, which is looking to expand its mobile presence, purchased online fashion retailer Ideeli for $43m in January – advised by DLA Piper – and is expecting previous acquisitions, including the $260m purchase of Korean deals website Ticket Monster from rival LivingSocial in November 2013, to start generating strong increases in revenue in this financial year.
Groupon also undertook a $29.5m share repurchase during the first quarter of 2014.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
