People news 26 May 2016
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (20 May to 26 May 2016)
Hills appoints former Betsson CPO as ‘director of change’
Cem Miralay forms part of double hire which also sees operator fill CTO position vacated by Finbarr Joy
William Hill has announced the appointment of a ‘director of change’ and group chief technology officer (CTO) as CEO James Henderson continues to rebuild his senior team.
Betsson’s former chief experience and product officer, Cem Miralay, takes up the newly created director of change position and will report directly in to the chief executive.
Prior to joining Betsson, Miralay held a number of senior product strategy and customer experience roles at the likes of Microsoft, AOL and BT.
“Cem will support the executive team in delivering to their strategic priorities and ensuring they are aligned to our customer centric values,” Henderson said.
OPAP appoints Damian Cope as new chief exec
Former Ladbrokes international MD Damian Cope has been appointed the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Greek monopoly OPAP.
Cope, who left Ladbrokes in June last year after more than three years at the operator, will take up his new role on 1 July.
The appointment means Kamil Ziegler, currently OPAP chairman and CEO, will continue on as chairman only.
Seven days in people news:
Paddy Power Betfair faces shareholder revolt over executive pay
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) faced a minor shareholder revolt over executive pay last week, as one third of shareholders voted against its current director’s remuneration package.
Specifically, 31.8% of shareholders voted against the rewards scheme at Wednesdays’ AGM, while 68.2% supported it.
The newly-formed company has faced criticism from shareholder advisory group Pirc in recent months for the payouts given to former Paddy Power CEO Andy McCue, as well as the amount of shares handed to executives.
Playtech acquires Quickspin for up to ?38m
Playtech has acquired Swedish games studio Quickspin for a “maximum consideration” of ?50m (?38.3m), the firm announced this week.
An initial payment of ?24m (?18.4m) for 100% of Quickspin shares will be made up front, with the remaining ?26m (?19.9m) payable depending on Quickspin’s EBITDA in 2017 and 2018.
The founders of Quickspin, Daniel Lindberg (CEO), Joachim Timmermans (CPO) and Mats Westerlund (CCO) will remain with the business for at least three years after completion.
Mobile game supplier iSoftBet has strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of industry veteran Michael Probert as head of business development.
Probert, who takes up his role immediately and will report to managing director Nir Elbaz, has a vast amount of product, commercial and management experience having worked in the gambling sector for 12 years.
Probert previously held senior roles with gaming giants IGT and Bally Technologies and, prior to joining iSoftBet, successfully managed the launch of Australian machine manufacturer Ainsworth in the European market.
“We are delighted that Michael has joined during a very exciting growth period for iSoftBet,” Elbaz said.
“We are developing lots of incredibly immersive content ourselves and have created a sleek and robust Game Aggregation Platform, so the experience and gaming expertise Michael brings will help take us to reach the next level.
Swedish supplier Play’n GO has strengthened its South American team with the appointment of Staffan Cnattingius as sales and accounts manager for the region.
Cnattingius will lead the firm’s South American customer and product focus, with the launch of the latest product localised for the region – VideoBingo – one of his first tasks.
“Play’n GO continues to excel in producing innovative, premium content that is localised for specific regions like South America,” Cnattingius said.
“I look forward to sharing Play’n GO’s fantastic content suite with all of the regulated markets in the region,” he continued.