CEO of 888 remains on the board after resignation

Internet and online casino group 888 are in the general casino news again after the Chief Executive Gigi Levy quit a week or so ago. Mr Levy has been involved in discussions with Ladbrokes as we have reported previously in our casino news pages and is now believed to have had disagreements with the Israeli founders of the company leading to his resignation. Unfortunately this would appear to have an effect on the deal under which 888 purchased Wink Bingo; it appears that if Mr Levy ceases to be a board member then Wink might be entitled to an immediate payout of the purchase price rather than an earnings related arrangement. This has led to the rather unusual situation whereby Mr Levy has stepped down as Chief Executive but retains a seat on the board; 888 were quick to state that he would remain for 6 months “to assist in the transition to a new CEO”. Details of the agreement between Wink and 888 are not clear to us but it has been reported that there is an “earn out” arrangement which has already been modified due to better than expected performance and it would appear that the remaining debt for the purchase would become due if Levy left the board which would put 888 in the position of having to raise the cash or even sell Wink on to a third party. In further casino news BetFred is believed to be one of only two remaining bidders for the Tote sale and is considered in some circles to be favourite as it can achieve synergies of some £5 million but we shall report back on that one nearer the time of a possible sale..