GVC builds management team ahead of bwin merger
CEO Kenny Alexander hands senior roles to bwin.party's Tom Waters and Sam Sadi as deal nears completion
GVC Holdings chief executive Kenny Alexander (pictured) says positions on the operator’s new-look management team will be split equally between GVC and bwin.party, as he looks to bring together the “best talent” to lead the enlarged firm.
Speaking to eGaming Review, Alexander said he had been busy building his senior team ahead of the 1 February takeover, allocating a number of senior roles to add to the recent hires of COO Shay Segev and head of IR and corporate strategy Nick Batram.
The combined firm’s sportsbook division, which will include both the Sportingbet and bwin brands, will be led by GVC CMO Adam Lewis and bwin.party Labels director Sam Sadi, who will become group head of sportsbook marketing and group head of sportsbook operations respectively.
The firm had previously announced that, following the hire of Segev, current GVC COO Jim Humberstone would become group head of trading and operations at the enlarged group.
Meanwhile, Tom Waters, who is currently the acting head of games at bwin.party following the departure of Golan Shaked late last year, will head-up the PartyPoker and Cashcade operations while GVC’s Jon Salmon has been handed the task of leading the PartyCasino and Casino Club brands.
All four positons will report directly in to Alexander.
“I’ve announced who’ll be doing what and who my direct reports will be internally,” Alexander told EGR. “There might still be a few more external appointments and the structure below management will be formulated over the next few months or so.
“It will be the best talent between GVC and bwin and I’m pretty confident the team we are putting together is pretty strong and can get the job done,” he added.
Alexander said that following completion, his main focus would be on integrating the two businesses, particularly the migration of the GVC brands onto the bwin platform.
“I think the toughest challenge will be the migrations,” Alexander said. “That’s the toughest challenge but I’m pretty confident that with Shay in place it will be a success – it’s a big migration but I’m very confident it will go well,” he added.
The ?1.2bn takeover, which was announced in September, will see GVC Holdings handed a London Main Market listing on 2 February.