Too Little, Too Late, It’s All Change At Kindred As Tjärnström-Wilsby Duopoly Ousted
Following a poor run of financial results, prominent iGaming players Kindred Group plc have announced all change at the top of their corporate tree.
Out goes CEO Henrik Tjärnström, to be followed shortly by Chief Financial Officer Johan Wilsby.
Nils Andén, ex-GVC/Entain and Kindred’s CCO for multiple regions, who has a long relationship with the group in various marketing positions, dating back to 2006, has been appointed interim CEO of the Swedish-origin B2B and B2C playmakers with immediate effect.
“I look very much forward to working closely with our Board of Directors, the executive management team and all employees to achieve the goals of Kindred”, responded Andén.
“I re-joined Kindred in 2020 and I have a strong belief in our organisation and the business models that have made this Company so successful and am more confident than ever in Kindred’s potential.”
For his part Tjärnström announced himself “very pleased with the Board of Directors’ choice of Nils Andén as the interim CEO, guaranteeing a smooth handover.”
Despite a much improved Q1 2023, which saw overall group revenues increase by some 24 percent, year-on-year, Kindred’s performance–bucking the widespread trend of online outfits through the lockdown era–has been far from stellar over the last two-years.
At Full Year 2022 trading the group marked double-digit revenue declines across all its major brands.
“Henrik has been at the helm through many important milestones passed by Kindred and has undoubtedly put his mark in both the history of the Company and the industry,” eulogised Evert Carlsson, Chair of the Stockholm Nasdaq-listed company.
“[We] wish him well in his future endeavours.”
CFO Johan Wilsby, slated to leave by the end of this year, is the next top executive out of Kindred’s revolving corporate door.
It’s hoped a new leadership team will now successfully drive Kindred’s stated target of achieving full-year revenue of £1.6 billion (SEK20.9bn/US$1.99bn), with an EBITDA of £200 million (SEK2.6bn/US$248m).
