Playtech has been joined by 888 Holdings chairman Brian Mattingley, who will be the company’s non-executive chairman from June 2021.
This move stabilises the situation at Playtech, which has had only an interim chair (Claire Milne) since the May 2020 resignation of Alan Jackson, who announced he was stepping down in May 2019.
Mr Mattingley has been at 888 Holdings since 2005. He joined that company as a non-executive director. He was appointed as the CEO of 888 in March 2012 and took up the role as chairman in May 2015.
He’s a real gambling veteran, having previously been in management of Gala Group and Ritz Bingo, who are major players in the UK bingo industry.
Claire Milne was appointed to the board of Playtech in July 2016.
Shareholders of Playtech had voiced their concern that the company didn’t have a “high-profile” chairman after the departure of Jackson in 2019,
SpringOwl Asset Management investor, Jason Ader, owns 5% of Playtech and they had spoken out against the appointment of Claire Milne as permanent chair of Playtech.
He said: “We don’t support Claire Milne as the future chairwoman of Playtech, we believe there are better candidates to lead this company into US gaming markets and lead it in its various endeavours over the course of the next decade.”
Mattingley himself said: “I’m very pleased to be joining Playtech, at such an exciting time in the company’s development. Playtech is ideally placed to continue to build on its market leadership position and I look forward to working with everyone at Playtech to drive forward its strategy and capitalise on the opportunities ahead.”
Mr Ader is pleased too, adding: “Brian’s appointment is fantastic news. It’s very positive for leadership, governance and reputation. With decades of experience under his belt, he is well-positioned to assume the responsibilities of chairman. I couldn’t think of anyone better for the job and I’m excited to see the changes he is going to make so that Playtech can finally perform to its full potential.”
Moving from 888 to Playtech is very much staying at the same level for Mr Mattingley, who has swapped one of the biggest casino and gambling consumer companies in the world for one of the world’s largest gambling software companies.
888 Holdings is the parent company of a load of big gambling operators.
They have a small business-to-business operation, but the majority of their business is done with consumers, supplying bingo, poker, sports gambling, and casino products. Their brands are usually simply named 888 and include 888 Casino, 888 Sport, 888 Poker, and 888 Bingo.
Playtech was founded in 1999 in Estonia and now styles itself as the world’s largest online gaming supply company. It makes software for casino companies, but it also makes games that consumers play, including an expanding slate of live casino games, and the massively successful Kingdoms Rise series of slots.
Like most of the internet gambling world, Playtech is currently tightly focused on breaking into the US gambling market which is likely to undergo further liberalisation in coming years.
