GiG appoints Betplay Capital chief to its board of directors

Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) announced at its annual general meeting that it appointed Tomasz Juroszek to its board of directors.

Juroszek was put forward for the position by Betplay Capital, which is one of the largest shareholders of GiG, The Juroszek family owns 9.67% of the firm’s share capital and is owned by three members of the family, namely Mateusz, Tomasz and Zbigniew.

The Juroszek family are the principal shareholders in leading Polish operator STS.

Betplay originally secured shares in GiG two years ago and has slowly increased its stake in the company.

Speaking exclusively to EGR, Juroszek commented on why it was felt necessary to make this next step as a collective.

He said: “When we reached the position of being one of the largest shareholders in the business, we decided that we needed a board member in order to be more up-to-date with what is going on.

“We also want to help the company achieve its aims, with stronger revenue increases in the future and give our knowledge and expertise in the industry. We made this choice around six months ago and I am pleased to take up this position.”

GiG is currently undergoing a strategic review of the business in which it will potentially split into two independent publicly listed firms as it looks to “optimise growth opportunities” for its media services and sportsbook divisions.

The split is Juroszek’s number one priority, now that he has taken up this position on the board.

Juroszek commented: “When they announced the strategic review, this was our plans as shareholders coming to life; following the announcement, I wanted to join the board, and I wanted to make this happen. My main focus now is the split and making sure it is going to happen within the deadlines.”

Juroszek also lifted the lid on how GiG raised funds to buy the AskGamblers brand from Catena Media in January.

He said: “It is an interesting case with AskGamblers, as GiG did not have enough possibility to do the deal when it happened. They were looking to raise equity in order to do the deal, and we were involved in this. This meant that if we weren’t convinced that it was a good deal we wouldn’t have done it.

“But if you ask anyone in the industry that is familiar with affiliate businesses, they know AskGamblers brand, and it is quite a renowned brand in the industry.

“The other thing that surprised everybody was the price. The EBITDA evaluation of the AskGamblers deal was amazing for GiG, in my opinion, and it had to be done from our side to finalise the deal. The only concern was that AskGamblers was a declining asset, and if GiG is able to reverse that, which it has given what we’ve seen in Q1, then it was worth it.”

Alongside, Juroszek’s appointment, GiG also appointed BeyondPlay founder and CEO Karolina Pelc to the board.

Pelc commented: “I am very happy to share I am joining the board of directors at GiG.

“This is a very exciting time for the company with big vision and plans for the future, and I am humbled to be given this opportunity to work alongside a group of established industry thought leaders and add value with my expertise gained over the years, working in various leadership roles in gaming.”