SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Playtech Plc has announced Brian Mattingley as its new company chairman, bringing its near two year search for a successor to Alan Jackson to a close.
Mattingley, who is in the final days of his 15 year tenure as Executive Chairman of 888 Holdings, has agreed to join FTSE250 Playtech.
Mattingley is due to leave 888 this May, having announced his resignation last September, with the FTSE online gambling group swiftly appointing former New Labour advisor Lord Jonathan Mendelsohn as the designated company chairman.
“I’m very pleased to be joining Playtech, at such an exciting time in the Company’s development,” Mattingley commented. “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.”
Playtech investors had publicly expressed their frustrations over the technology group being unable to fulfil its ‘succession duties’.
Following the official departure of Jackson last May, Playtech installed non-executive director Claire Milne as Interim Chair – with Playtech’s board announcing that it had suspended its executive search due to the ’significant limitations and restrictions’ of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The appointment of Mattingley will soothe Playtech investor nerves, who had called for the company to hire an industry experienced executive to lead its board and the firm’s strategic turnaround.
Top of the agenda, Mattingley will have to heal deep shareholder rifts following three years of underperformance in which Playtech has seen its FTSE valuation halved.
During 2020 trading, Playtech disposed of its non-gaming assets YoYo Games and financial services unit Finalto as part of its strategy to refocus the business solely on gambling – plotting its return to the FTSE100 index.
