FS Gaming Investments has relinquished circa 2% of the 6.57% stake & voting rights it had in 888 Holdings – which it only acquired in June – after its deal with Shay Segev was cancelled.
In the background to the story, there remains HMRC's investigation of Kenny Alexander and Lee Feldman’s Turkish operations when the pair worked at Entain – known then as GVC.
An investigation by HMRC in the UK has focused on Entain’s former Turkish-facing business and the company also acknowledged historical misconduct involving former third-party suppliers and former employees having occurred. Entain was being investigated for offences that include, but are not limited to, section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010.
In its Q2 report, Entain revealed that it had put £585m ($746.3m) aside to settle the affair with HMRC, with Entain’s current Chairman, Barry Gibson, stating: "The Entain of today bears no resemblance to the GVC of yesterday, which had a different management team, a different strategy and – to be blunt – different standards.”
Later, following 888 being subject to a licence review by the Gambling Commission, 888 paused proceedings which would have seen Feldman, Alexander and Stephen Morana become the Chair, CEO and CFO of 888, respectively – before terminating the discussions entirely.
Now, FS Gaming has reduced the 6.57% stake it had in 888 to 4.55%, a move seen by many as a direct reaction to 888’s decision to halt FS Gaming’s 6% investment offer in July.
