Just a week after a group of high-profile gambling industry veterans bought a stake in the 888 Group and started demanding improvements, they’ve gone and put themselves forward for key roles in the firm, including the position of Executive Chairman, which is currently held on an interim basis by House of Lords life peer, Lord Jonathan Mendelsohn.
Equity researcher Alfonso Straffon shared the news Tuesday via Twitter that ex-Chairman of GVC Holdings (now Entain) Lee Feldman is the man in line to replace Mendelsohn:
Straffon’s mention of “A Kenny comeback” references Kenny Alexander, the former CEO of GVC, the person the veteran stakeholders want to be the new 888 CEO. This power move comes a week after ex-Entain execs Feldman, Shay Segev, Stephen Morana and others formed a consortium to buy shares in 888 under the name FS Gaming Investments.
now the ball’s in their court”
FS Gaming on Tuesday also nominated ex-Betfair Chief Financial Officer and Entain non-executive Morana for the CFO role at 888, which is currently held by Yariv Dafna. The Times cited a FS Gaming source as stating: “We’ve put our money where our mouth is and now the ball’s in their court.”
Other investors must like what they’re hearing, with shares of 888 climbing 57% since FS Gaming became the firm’s second highest shareholder with its 6.57% stake on June 6.