Non-exec duo depart bwin.party board

Bwin.party has announced two non-executive directors, Tim Bristow and Geoff Baldwin, have resigned from the company’s board.

The resignations are effective immediately, with bwin.party chairman Simon Duffy confirming the changes to be in line with the company’s intention to reduce the size of its executive board.

“We continue to review the composition of the board and this process may result in further changes to the board later in the year,” he added.

Bristow had served on the Gibraltar-licensed company’s board for more than six years, having joined the board of PartyGaming in 2007. He continued after PartyGaming’s merger with bwin Interactive Entertainment in March 2011, combining his duties with his role as CEO of telecommunications provider Gibtelecom.

Baldwin was appointed to the board in July 2011 having been nominated under the terms of the relationship agreement involving bwin.party, and two of its largest shareholders Emerald Bay Limited and Stinson Ridge Limited.

Baldwin stepped down following discussions between him and his nominating parties, with bwin.party noting that a successor has yet to be nominated, but the nomination right has been retained.

Emerald Bay Limited is wholly owned by PartyGaming founder Ruth Parasol, while Stinson Ridge Limited is wholly owned by her former husband Russell DeLeon.

Parasol founded PartyGaming in 1997, floating its IPO on the London Stock Exchange in 2005 at a value of £4.64bn. The company merged with Bwin on 31 March 2011, two months after the merger was approved by shareholders.

Emerald Bay and Stinson Ridge remain major shareholders in bwin.party, owning a combined 14.32% of issued share capital.