Sports betting technology provider SBTech is welcoming a new CEO ahead of a potential sale or public floatation of the company.
Deutsche Bank analyst Richard Carter has been named SBTech’s new CEO, replacing outgoing chief exec Itai Zak (pictured), who has been with the company since 2011. Zak’s tenure saw a dramatic expansion of the company, including a tenfold increase in staff and expansion into multiple new markets across the globe.
Carter, who covered the leisure sector for Deutsche Bank, will assume his new role as of March 1. Zak told eGaming Review that he would stay on in a consultant capacity for a few months to ensure the transition goes as smoothly as possible, but Zak believes the company needs “a fresh outlook, fresh management and fresh vision” to take things to the next level.
The Times reported that the CEO switcheroo was a sign that SBTech was mulling a sale or a public share listing. Zak played coy as to the company’s future, saying only that no decisions had been made.
SBTech, which was recently awarded the Best Sports Betting Supplier award at the eGR Nordics Awards, has been on a deal-making tear in 2016. Last week, the company inked a new five-year pact with Nordic operator Co-Gaming Ltd’s ComeOn! brand, marking the fourth time the two companies have re-upped since first getting together in 2009.
The deal-making continued unabated this week as the company announced a multi-year deal with Czech Republic lottery operator SAZKA, as well as a pair of Latin American pacts: a retail betting deal with Mexico’s Promotora Latinoamericana de Entretenimiento (PLE) and an online technology deal with Argentina’s Spingol.
