Jette Nygaard-Andersen has released a statement on her decision to step down as CEO of Entain, saying that the company is “better and stronger” than it has ever been.
Last month, Entain announced that Nygarrd-Andersen would be resigning from her position as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.
In a LinkedIn post, the former CEO commented on her decision to resign from Entain, noting that it wasn’t an easy decision to make, before thanking those she has worked with during her four years with the company, three of those years being CEO.
The decision for her to step down followed the resolution of HMRC’s investigation into the company’s former Turkish-facing business. Nygarrd-Andersen believes Entain is now a stronger organisation today than it has ever been.
“Entain is fundamentally a better and stronger company today than it has ever been,” she said.
“Through a multitude of twists, turns and challenges, we’ve transformed the business from the GVC of old to one with the highest standards of governance, compliance, player safety, a new effective strategy setting the company up for further growth in all markets, old and new, and excellent quality of earnings.
“Over the past four years, we have dramatically shifted the company to be a responsible operator, a reputable employer, strategically put the customer front and centre of business operations, worked on transforming the technology to make it future fit, diversified the portfolio and so much more.
“That luminous GVC orange evolved to an iconic bright Entain purple and Entain became a business that partners want to work with, people want to work for, and customers trust with their entertainment.”
Although ending amid the HMRC investigation, Nygarrd-Andersen’s tenure as Entain CEO saw a number of milestones, including several high-profile acquisitions expanding the firm’s global presence.
The outgoing CEO continued: “Thanks to the professionalism and passion of Entainers around the world, the business tackled challenges such as the pandemic head-on, navigated a path to 100 per cent regulated operations and always thought of the customer.
“As a result, Entain is now a business that has scaled and operates in over 30 territories with 30,000 employees.”
The former CEO added that the gaming industry needs “strategic thinkers and innovators that are passionate about doing the right thing for customers” while also stating that there is an “enormous opportunity to innovate”.
Following Nygarrd-Andersen’s resignation, Entain’s board asked Senior Independent Non-Executive Director Stella David to become interim CEO of the company until a permanent replacement has been found.
Entain has made further director changes since, including announcing the departure of former Group Director of M&A and Corporate Development Nicholas Batram, who left after eight years to become a freelance consultant in M&A, corporate finance, financial communications, and strategy.
In addition, Ricky Sandler was recently added as a Non-Executive Director, Pierre Bouchut was appointed as Senior Independent Director, Virginia McDowell was selected as Chair of the Remuneration Committee, Barry Gibson assumed the role of Chair of the People and Governance Committee and Rahul Welde became a member of the same committee.