Groupon Inc. said Thursday it has hired Margo Georgiadis, a Chicago-based Google executive, as its new chief operating officer.

Georgiadis replaces Rob Solomon, who said in March he would be stepping down from his role at the Chicago-based daily deals company. Crain's Chicago Business had reported about Georgiadis' new role at Groupon earlier on Thursday, citing a source briefed on the matter.

"Margo is a strong leader with a passion for helping small business owners and consumers," Groupon Chief Executive Andrew Mason said in a statement. "We're thrilled to have her on our team."

Georgiadis is Google's vice president of global sales planning and technology, meaning she worked on the search giant's sales-related technology and operations. She also led commerce and local sales.

"I'm grateful for all that Margo has done for our team over the past two years," Nikesh Arora, Google's senior vice president and chief business officer, said in a statement. "We will miss her, but we're also very excited that she's joining a terrific company and a great partner for Google."

The changes in Groupon's executive suite come as the company is reportedly mulling an initial public offering for later this year. Analysts have said hiring an experienced executive for COO was necessary before going public, especially because of the exponential growth Groupon has experienced since launching in November 2008. The company has more than 50 million subscribers in 46 countries and has 7,000 employees. Groupon turned down a multibillion-dollar buyout offer from Google last year.

Georgiadis was formerly a principal at Synetro Capital LLC, a Chicago investment firm. She had also served as executive vice president of card products and chief marketing officer at Riverwoods-based Discover Financial Services. Before joining Discover, Georgiadis was a partner at McKinsey and Co. for 15 years in London and Chicago, heading up the consulting firm's marketing and retail practices.

Georgiadis is a board member at The Jones Group Inc., which owns brands such as Jones New York and Nine West, and the Northshore University Health System's Research Institute.