Global Gaming terminates CEO contract as Enlabs eyes takeover
Tobias Fagerlund exits Estonia-licensed operator as board of directors mull majority shareholder’s acquisition offer
Global Gaming has terminated the contract of CEO Tobias Fagerlund with immediate effect as the operator finalises its sale to Enlabs.
The Global Gaming board of directors confirmed the mutual departure by appointing board member Christian Rasmussen as acting CEO until a successor is found.
The recruitment process is already underway, with Rasmussen acting on a “consultative basis” in the interim.
Global Gaming directors paid tribute to the outgoing Fagerlund for leading the business in a “meritorious” way since taking the CEO job.
Global Gaming chair Niklas Braathen said: “Tobias has implemented a large package of restructuring measures and shown evidence of a strong and clear leadership that was absolutely necessary for the company.
“Tobias has thus with great success laid a good foundation for Global Gaming’s future operations,” he added.
Braathen claimed the decision to part company with Fagerlund was due in part to expanding the international leadership team.
“Now, however, the company is facing a new phase and we have identified a number of measures necessary to further strengthen the company’s position,” said Braathen.
“The CEO has worked from Stockholm, where he has been the company’s only employee, and there is a need for leadership to operate where our operating units are allocated, in Estonia and Malta,” Braathen explained.
Fagerlund was appointed acting CEO of Global Gaming in April 2019 before the role was made permanent in July 2019.
The company’s fortunes dramatically declined during his tenure as CEO, beginning in June 2019 with the revocation of its Swedish gambling licence.
The revocation was the first in the market after regulators found “serious and systematic shortcomings” in the operator’s AML and KYC policies.
The loss of its Swedish licence was catastrophic for the operator and resulted in the termination of contracts with B2B partners, a 55% employee headcount reduction and a 200% decline in profit during 2019.
However, the company turned a corner in 2020, reporting a return to profitability in Q2 and the expansion of its Ninja Casino brand into sports betting.
Fagerlund’s exit was confirmed on the same day Enlabs tabled a SEK150m (£13.2m) mandatory takeover offer for the business after becoming majority shareholder.
The offer values shares in Global Gaming at SEK11 a share, based on Enlabs acquiring the remaining 13,611,386 shares in the business.
Global Gaming shareholders can accept the SEK11 cash offer, or alternatively take up a 0.36 share in Enlabs based on their shareholding.
As a third alternative, investors can take up a 50/50 cash/shares option.
The offer represents a premium of 15% on Global Gaming’s closing price on the Nasdaq First North index as of 26 August.
Enlabs claimed there would be scalability and cost savings in combining the two businesses to the tune of €5m annually, across marketing, IT and compliance.