Hughes will assume the role immediately, taking over from current CEO, President and Director Laurent Benezra, who will remain at the company in a consultancy role.
Hughes has over 20 years of experience working with private and public companies; he has worked in jurisdictions including North America, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
React board member Philip Nolan said: “Given the corporation’s current development stage and market environment, we considered that a change of leadership was needed to unlock React Gaming’s full potential. We are thrilled that Leigh has agreed to take on this challenge and lead the company with the goal of creating sustainable value for our shareholders.”
Hughes is the founder of Comverj Ventures, a company that offers advice and support to clients, providing them with the chance to identify opportunities in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, business strategy and innovation. Comverj has worked with a range of public companies across the US, Canada, Australia and Europe.
Hughes said: “I am excited to have the opportunity to leverage the assets that React Gaming has acquired over the past year, including Loot.Bet, Compete.gg and Parabellum, all of which are top-tier assets with significant growth potential. My role as CEO and a major shareholder will be to build on this solid foundation, with the help of our outstanding and driven team, to continue to grow React Gaming and make it a leader in the esports space.”
React went on to report that it has granted stock options to officers and directors to purchase up to 1.6 million common shares in the capital of the company.
The options are exercisable for five years from the date of the grant at a price of $0.14 and will vest quarterly for over 12 months.
