Kindred Group chair resigns and is replaced by FDJ CFO
Evert Carlsson departs Stockholm-listed firm following FDJ’s successful €2.5bn move for Kindred, with a host of other board members also exiting
Kindred Group chair Evert Carlsson has resigned from his position following La Française des Jeux’s (FDJ) €2.5bn acquisition of the Unibet parent company.
Carlsson and his fellow board members – James Gemmel, Cédric Boireau, Andrew McCue, Jonas Jansson and Kenneth Shea – have all stepped down from their roles effective today, 14 October.
Kindred Group confirmed Heidi Skogster and Martin Randel will remain on the board until their terms of office expire at the time of the group’s 2025 AGM.
The operator also noted FDJ trio – Pascal Chaffard, Edeline Minaire and Célia Vérot – will be added to the board as directors, with Chaffard named as the new chair.
Additionally, Chaffard will chair the company’s remuneration committee which Skogster and Randel will remain on.
Skogster will chair the audit committee with Randel and Minaire, making up the three-person team.
Chaffard has served as FDJ CFO since January 2019 while Minaire is the company’s finance director, having also been in the post since January 2019.
Vérot joined FDJ as chief regulatory officer in May this year after more than 10 years with the French Conseil d’Etat across several roles. She also served as an advisor to the French prime minister’s office.
The FDJ trio’s board tenures are due to expire at Kindred’s 2025 AGM.
Carlsson had served as Kindred’s chair since May 2021, and in that time saw long-term CEO Henrik Tjärnström resign in May 2023 and be replaced by Nils Andén.
Andén stepped up on an interim basis after serving as chief commercial officer before being named permanent CEO in February 2024.
Of the other departing board members, McCue previously served as Paddy Power CEO prior to its merger with Betfair, while Jansson spent 10 years at Kambi as COO.
Gemmel is a partner at Corvex Management, one of Kindred’s largest shareholders prior to its sale to FDJ.
Boireau works with SAS Premier Investissement, which was another of Kindred’s large shareholders to give backing to the FDJ deal, while Shea is a director at real estate investment firm Hamilton Point Investments.
FDJ now holds 91.77% of the shares in Kindred Group, with the transaction set to usher in one of Europe’s three largest gambling companies.
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