Appointment of Sean Wilkins as CFO

888 Holdings plc

13 September 2023

 

13 September 2023

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THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

888 Holdings Plc

("888" or "the Group")

Appointment of Sean Wilkins as Chief Financial Officer

888 (LSE: 888), one of the world's leading betting and gaming companies with internationally renowned brands including William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, today announces the appointment of Sean Wilkins as Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), with effect from February 1, 2024.

Sean has seventeen years of experience in CFO roles at both private and public companies, having most recently held the position of Group CFO of Superbet, a leading omni-channel betting and gaming business with operations primarily across Romania, Poland, Serbia and Belgium. Prior to this, Sean held CFO roles at several consumer-facing businesses including Big Bus Tours, Domino's Pizza Group PLC, Tesco Malaysia, Tesco Telecom, and O2 Asia.

The Group's current CFO, Yariv Dafna, will step down from his role and the Board on October 2, 2023 following an orderly handover of responsibilities to Vaughan Lewis, the Group's Chief Strategy Officer, who will also assume the role of interim CFO until Sean joins the Group.

Lord Mendelsohn, Executive Chair of 888, commented:

"The Board is delighted to announce the appointment of Sean as the Group's new CFO following a thorough search process. In addition to having an in-depth understanding of the betting and gaming industry, Sean brings a wealth of relevant experience gained in CFO roles at international businesses, where he has demonstrated a strong track record of value creation.

Alongside Per Widerström - the Group's new CEO who joins on 16 October - and the rest of the leadership team, the Board is highly confident that the Group has an outstanding executive team in place with the right skills and capabilities to deliver the Group's clear strategic plans and priorities. I am also pleased that Vaughan will assume the role of Interim CFO over the coming months, ensuring we continue to drive forward and maximise our potential.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Yariv for his important contributions to the business in the last three years, including playing a crucial role in the completion of our transformational combination with William Hill and the successful integration of the businesses, and also for providing stability in the role of CFO over recent months while we searched for a permanent successor. We wish him every success in his future endeavours."

Sean Wilkins, incoming CFO of 888, commented:

"Having worked in the regulated online betting and gaming industry over recent years, I have followed 888 closely. Following its transformational acquisition of William Hill, the Group has all the ingredients for long-term success: outstanding brands, technology and people. The Board has set out very clear plans to create significant shareholder value and I am really looking forward to being part of the leadership team to deliver these plans and achieve the Group's clear potential."

Enquiries and further information:
888 Holdings Plc	[phone]
Lord Mendelsohn, Executive Chair Vaughan Lewis, Chief Strategy Officer

Investor Relations James Finney, Director of IR Media	[e-mail] [e-mail]
Hudson Sandler Alex Brennan / Charlotte Cobb / Andy Richards	[phone]

Biography:

·      Sean Wilkins, 54, is a proven CFO with an excellent track record of value creation in both public and private companies across multiple leading consumer-facing businesses, and in non-executive and executive roles.

·     Sean was most recently Group CFO of Superbet, from January 2022. Superbet is a market leading omni-channel operator (majority online) with operations primarily across Romania, Poland, Serbia and Belgium, with revenues of approximately €1bn.

·     Prior to Superbet, he was Group CFO of Big Bus Tours from 2015 to 2022, where he was instrumental in the significant global expansion of the company through multiple acquisitions, more than doubling EBITDA while building a leading finance function to oversee its operations across 23 cities worldwide including in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia and the US.

·    Prior to Big Bus Tours, Sean was Group CFO of Domino's Pizza Group plc from 2013 - 2015 where he gained listed company experience. Sean built a high-calibre finance team and overhauled financial control in the UK, Ireland Germany and Switzerland.

·      Sean began his career in management consulting, corporate finance and investment banking before joining O2 as Head of Wholesale in 2003. He later became Chief Financial Officer at O2 (Asia) in 2006, before moving to Tesco Telecoms in 2008 as Chief Financial Officer and International and Strategy Director. He then moved to Tesco Malaysia as Chief Financial Officer in 2009, before becoming General Manager of Supermarkets Finance at Coles Supermarkets in Australia in 2012.

·      Sean is a chartered management accountant and holds a Bachelors degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.

Disclosures pursuant to paragraph 9.6.13 of the Listing Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority

There are no further disclosures required in respect of these appointments pursuant to paragraph 9.6.13 of the Listing Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority.

CFO remuneration

Sean Wilkins will receive an annual fixed pay of £430,000, be eligible to receive annual bonus and Performance Share Plan awards, all in line with 888's existing remuneration policy.

Further details of his remuneration arrangements will be set out in the 2023 Director's Remuneration Report.

About 888 Holdings Plc:

888 Holdings plc (and together with its subsidiaries, "888" or the "Group") is one of the world's leading betting and gaming companies. The Group owns and operates internationally renowned brands including William Hill, 888, and Mr Green. In addition, the Group operates the SI Sportsbook and SI Casino brands in the US in partnership with Authentic Brands Group.

Incorporated in Gibraltar, and headquartered and listed in London, the Group operates from offices around the world and employs over 11,000 people globally.

The Group's mission is to lead the gambling world in creating the best betting and gaming experiences, bringing unrivalled moments of excitement to people's day-to-day lives. It achieves this by developing state-of-the-art technology and content-rich products that provide fun, fair, and safe betting and gaming entertainment to customers worldwide.

Find out more at:

http://corporate.888.com/

Important Notices

This announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements, beliefs or opinions, with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of 888. These statements, which contain the words "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "seek", "continue", "aim", "target", "projected", "plan", "goal", "achieve", words of similar meaning or other forward looking statements, reflect 888's beliefs and expectations and are based on numerous assumptions regarding 888's present and future business strategies and the environment 888 will operate in and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. No representation is made that any of these statements or forecasts will come to pass or that any forecast results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of 888 to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond 888's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market conditions, currency fluctuations, the behaviour of other market participants, the actions of regulators and other factors such as 888's ability to continue to obtain financing to meet its liquidity needs, changes in the political, social and regulatory framework in which 888 operates or in economic or technological trends or conditions. Past performance of 888 cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. As a result, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The list above is not exhaustive and there are other factors that may cause 888's actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. Forward-looking statements speak only as of their date and 888, its respective parent and subsidiary undertakings, the subsidiary undertakings of such parent undertakings, and any of such person's respective directors, officers, employees, agents, affiliates or advisers expressly disclaim any obligation to supplement, amend, update or revise any of the forward-looking statements made herein, except where it would be required to do so under applicable law. No statement in this announcement is intended as a profit forecast or a profit estimate and no statement in this announcement should be interpreted to mean that the financial performance of 888 for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published for 888

 

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