Groupon's executive chairman Eric Lefkofsky and vice chairman Ted Leonsis are stepping in as temporary joint chief executives until a replacement for Mr Mason can be found.

BBC: Groupon shares rebound after founder is sacked

Mr Lefkofsky and Ted Leonsis were named as temporary joint chief executives at the end of February when founder Andrew Mason was ousted after the group posted another quarterly loss.

BBC: Groupon results better than expected

Leaders were considering moving the launch of the ESM forward to July 2012 and allowing the temporary EFSF to exist alongside the permanent facility, thus building up their joint firepower.

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