CEO of gambling group 888 steps down following layoffs
CEO of gambling group 888 steps down following layoffs
Itai Pazner is leaving the company a short time after it laid off dozens of employees
The Chief Executive Officer of gambling group 888 Itai Pazner will step down immediately, the British bookmaker said on Monday. Non-Executive Chair Jonathan Mendelsohn will take over as executive chair on an interim basis while the board searches for a new CEO.
The company recently laid off dozens of employees in Israel, and likely also a similar amount in its offices across the world.
888 also added on Monday that it will suspend VIP activities in the Middle East pending an internal investigation. Certain practices were not followed in regard to KYC (Know Your Client) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) processes for 888 VIP customers in the Middle East region, the company said. 888 estimated that the impact will be less than 3% of its group revenue, should the suspensions remain in place.
Earlier this month, the company said Chief Financial Officer Yariv Dafna would step down after its full-year results are published in late March.
888 admitted late last year that changes in economic conditions since announcing the acquisition of competitor William Hill in September 2021 for £2.2 billion have forced the group to take action. “The group’s operating environment has become more challenging. Global macroeconomic conditions are shifting and key countries in which we operate are facing increasingly high inflation, energy costs hikes, higher interest rates, and, in some cases such as the UK, potential further regulatory changes,” the company wrote.
888 was founded in 1997 by brothers Avi and Aaron Shaked and brothers Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak. The company went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 and currently has a market cap of around £450 million ($557 million).
888 is headquartered in Gibraltar and employs around 12,000 people worldwide following the merger with William Hill.
Reuters contributed to this report
