GVC Holdings appoints David Satz and Robert Hoskin to board of directors

London-listed gaming operator GVC Holdings has strengthened its board of directors with the appointment of senior gaming executives David Satz and Robert Hoskin.

Statz joins the operator as a non-executive director with immediate effect, having most recently served as senior vice president of government relations at Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas from 2002 to 2019. During this time, he played a critical role in successfully lobbying for online gaming and sports betting to be regulated in the United States.

Prior to Caesars, Statz spent 16 years at the US law firm Saiber Schlesinger Satz Goldstein, where he had a particular focus on the gaming industry.

“I have long been an admirer of GVC’s diversified business model, industry-leading brands, and unique proprietary technology platform,” said Statz. “I look forward to working closely with the Board and the executive management team in order to help support GVC’s impressive growth trajectory, especially in light of the unprecedented opportunity presented by its strong position in the nascent US sports betting market.”

Robert Hoskin will be promoted to the board of GVC on 1 January 2021 as an executive director, and will also take on the role of chief governance officer, overseeing GVC’s legal, regulatory, governance and social responsibility affairs.

Hoskin currently serves as group director of legal, regulatory and secretariat, overseeing GVC’s corporate governance, legal and regulatory requirements across more than 20 countries in five continents, as well as supporting various M&A transactions.

“It has been an absolute pleasure to have witnessed GVC’s extraordinary growth story from an AIM-listed company to the successful and international FTSE 100 business that it is today,” Hoskin said. “I am honoured to be joining what is an outstandingly strong Board and am delighted that the importance of Governance is being recognised in this way.”

Barry Gibson, GVC chairman, commented: “I am delighted to be welcoming two such high calibre individuals to our Board. David has unrivalled regulatory and legislative expertise in the all-important US gaming market. His knowledge and insight will be hugely additive in helping us to achieve our ambition of being the leading operator in the US through BetMGM, our fast-growing joint venture with MGM Resorts.

“Robert has made an outstanding contribution to GVC in his 15 years at the Group, and his promotion is richly deserved. The fact that regulation, legal and governance are now represented at Board level will give us even greater oversight of these critically important areas, all of which are central to our long-term growth plans.”

Shares in GVC Holdings plc. (LSE:GVC) were trading 4.02 per cent higher on the news at 1,010.00 pence per share in London Thursday morning.