Kenny Alexander–the ghost of Entain’s past, whose stewardship of the British gambling giant ultimately led to it being fined a massive £615 million to avoid alleged criminal “failure to prevent bribery” charges–has risen to haunt the ailing company he once led.
Alexander, a so-called gambling industry “legend”, once known as “King Kenny”, who built GVC Holdings into a billion-pound FTSE100 omnichannel–before it changed its name to Entain–and his side-kick Lee Feldman, a former non-Executive Chair of GVC, have now decided to sue Entain and its law firm Addleshaw Goddard (AG) over “disclosure of privileged information” in the (non) prosecution deal Entain agreed with HM Revenue and Customs in September 2023.
Entain agreed to pay the £615 million fine, the biggest in British gambling industry history, to stave-off formal criminal charges concerning alleged bribery by an affiliate in Turkey.
At the time Entain was known as GVC Holdings and was being led by Alexander, as CEO, and Feldman.
Turkey Corruption Scandal
Both men left Entain before the criminal investigation into the activities of the company’s Turkish affiliate–first launched in November 2019–was widened in July 2020.
GVC Holdings was rebranded as Entain in November 2020 and the board has since appointed a string of CEOs, among them Danish out-of-industry executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen–the first woman ever to run a major international gambling firm–and industry veteran Gavin Isaacs, in a bid to bin the chequered past and move forward with an avowed corporate strategy of compliance in regulated markets.
But the new pathway of good intentions–well documented in these pages–has seemingly led to legal hell, as Entain–owner of bwin, partypoker, Sportingbet, et al, and co-owner, with MGM Resorts International, of U.S. sportsbook BetMGM–has been hammered by a series of scandals and leadership set-backs.
Nygaard-Andersen, for example, initially managed to weather a storm of investor criticism over her M&A policy of buying big in regulated, Central and Eastern Europe-facing markets.
But she was accused of paying over-the-top by influential stakeholders and was fired in December 2023.
Last September, after a lengthy search, gambling industry veteran Gavin Isaacs stepped up to the CEO plate.
Shares Plummet
Yet this month, days after the end of ICE Barcelona, where he had been a featured speaker, Isaacs, too, was on his way – allegedly by “mutual assent”.
Amid the roil, encompassing further investigations into the company’s fiscal affairs, the value of Entain shares have plummeted by over 30 percent in the last 12-months.
Now Alexander and Feldman are suing the company in a bid to get the full details of the £615 million 5 December 2023 Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with U.K. tax authorities.
Tellingly, the Crown Prosecution Service, while agreeing to drop charges against Entain/GVC per se, are still exploring the possibility of “filing criminal charges against individuals”, say highly-placed sources.
Referring to the Alexander and Feldman lawsuit, a spokesperson for Entain said: “Entain considers the claim to be without merit and it will contest it robustly.”
Entain’s long-standing lawyers, AG, citing “client confidentiality”, have declined to comment.
Today (February 17) iGamingFuture was contacted by legal representatives of Alexander and Feldman, who told us:
“Addleshaw Goddard were the claimants’ longtime advisors during the time they built and managed the Entain business and advised them on all material legal issues in connection with Entain’s operations.
“The claimants are concerned that crucial advice given by Addleshaw Goddard may have been withheld, purportedly on privilege grounds.
“The claimants are determined to get to the truth of what has gone on here, hence their decision to force full disclosure from Addleshaw Goddard and Entain through this claim.”
