Fresh off the plane from ICE Barcelona, where he’d been extolling the virtues of his company’s rebuild and renewal after a series of devastating corporate body blows, Entain’s new CEO Gavin Isaacs finds his company once again under heavy regulatory fire.
This week, as Isaacs, who only replaced Jette Nygaard-Andersen in the Entain hot seat last September, was explaining to the cream of world iGaming leaders gathered at ICE how to “Deliver(ing) Turbo-charged Transformation”, his troubled Omnichannel was under fresh investigation — this time by the UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC).
Also under the forensic FRC microscope are Entain’s accounting firm KPMG.
The FRC are now auditing Entain’s 2022 accounts, which were conducted by KPMG, it was announced on Monday.
Travails
The travails of FTSE100 Entain–one of the top gambling companies in the world and owner of blue ribbon betting brand Ladbrokes Coral, bwin, PartyPoker, Sportingbet, et al–have been extensively covered in these pages.
In perhaps the biggest-ever financial scandal to rock British gambling, Entain was fined a massive £615 million (US$758m) in 2023 for historic money laundering breaches by one of their Turkish affiliates when the company was known as GVC Holdings and being run by a troika, headed by the “legendary” Kenny Alexander.
Alexander was forced from office after UK revenue and tax authorities began an investigation in 2020.
He was replaced by new broom, out-of-industry Nygaard-Andersen in January 2021, who became the first female CEO of a UK-listed retail betting and iGaming company.
Nygaard-Andersen tried to reset the Entain (GVC) avatar with a fresh focus on regulated markets and rapid expansion in Central and Eastern European markets.
But critics–among them powerful Entain stakeholder Ricky Sandler of New York’s Eminence Capital–attacked her for diluting stock and paying over-the-odds.
CEO Dilemma
After a lengthy corporate search, gambling industry veteran Isaacs, renowned as a “safe pair of hands” was brought in to steady the Entain ship of state.
But now yet again for the UK gambling giant it’s that familiar curse: New year, new scandal.
According to reports, KPMG has been Entain (GVC Holdings) auditor since 2018 and was paid some £3.6 million for validating its 2022 Annual Accounts.
It would be an understatement to say that this current FRC probe is nothing short of a serious set-back to both Entain and KPMG, who are pillars of the UK financial and business establishment.
For its part the accountants have confirmed: “[We] cooperate fully with the FRC to conclude this matter as quickly as possible.”
Like its client, Entain, KPMG has also been wracked by a series of scandals, facing 17 regulatory investigations since 2018.
As for Entain, they have yet to comment on the latest disquisition.
Perhaps Gavin Isaacs is digesting the full weight of his final presentation at ICE Barcelona, aptly entitled: “The CEO Dilemma”.
