888 in the clear following UKGC license review

A review led by the UK Gambling Commission which commenced on July 14, 2023, and took a hard look at 888’s license has now come to an end, the company confirmed last week, citing a UKGC statement to the company.

888 confirmed that the License Review had led to no license conditions, financial penalties, or other remedies that the Group must meet to move forward. The news resulted in a slight uptick for 888’s stock on Friday, with stock trading at 87.20 GBP per share at closing time.

The review commenced at an interesting time for the company, as FS Gaming, a stakeholder with a 6.6% stake in 888, sought to exert its influence on the company and introduce changes that merited closer scrutiny from the UKGC.

However, 888 opposed the proposed changes as it did not want the additional scrutiny that came from the possible appointment of several cadres within the company’s structure. One was former GVC CEO Kenny Alexander, whom FS Gaming wanted to appoint as 888’s new boss.

The others were Lee Feldman, whom the investment vessel wanted to appoint as Chair and Stephen Morana, whom FS Gaming wanted to appoint as Chief Financial Officer.

In motivating these decisions, FS Gaming explained that 888 had faced a difficult spell that could have been resolved by industry veterans who only sought the betterment of the company. FS Gaming was also backed by a former GVC executive, Shay Segev, who served briefly as a CEO at the rebranded company, Entain, before moving onto DAZN.

888 however chose to opt out from potential corporate structure rejuggling under these individuals, as the company was concerned that the UKGC could potentially take issue with the company on several counts.

The fear stems from the fact that Entain, the successor of GVC, was investigated by the HM Revenue & Customs over its Turkish business unit at the time when Alexander was at the helm, and the company had to settle with the regulator in 2023.

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