Cherry AB CEO Fredrik Burvall resigning for “family reasons”

cherry-ceo-burvall-resigns

cherry-ceo-burvall-resignsNordic online betting operator Cherry AB is on the hunt for a new chief executive after its current CEO bowed out due to “family reasons.”

On Tuesday, Cherry announced that Fredrik Burvall (pictured) “will leave his role as CEO due to family reasons.” Burvall, a 10-year veteran at the company, has agreed to stay on until “summer 2017.” Cherry board member Anders Holmgren will serve as acting CEO until Burvall’s permanent replacement can be found.

Cherry’s official statement quoted Burvall saying he was “extremely proud” of his role in building Cherry into an online force to be reckoned with, and a company “well positioned for the future with five strong business areas all with strong management teams.”

Cherry chairman Rolf Åkerlind said he and the rest of the board were “extremely grateful” to Burvall for presiding over the company “during a busy period when the company has expanded rapidly and been very successful.” Åkerlind noted that Cherry’s turnover had grown 137% over the past two years, a period that saw Cherry make seven acquisition deals.

Acting CEO Holmgren, one of the founders of Cherry’s Nordic betting rival Betsson, said he was looking forward to furthering Cherry’s development while managing its already considerable business scope. The company said it had started an external recruiting process in order to identify Holmgren’s permanent replacement.

In December, Cherry announced that it expects to conclude its acquisition of online casino and sports betting operator ComeOn Malta in Q1 2017. Cherry stated that the addition of ComeOn’s portfolio of gaming sites would make Cherry the third largest non-state Nordic gaming operator.

Cherry is set to deliver its full-year 2016 financial results on February 21. In November, the company delivered its Q3 report card, which showed revenue up 39% and earnings up 78% to SEK 30.9m, with the online business representing 82% of overall revenue, 10 points higher than in Q3 2015.