The holding increase occurred earlier this week but has only been confirmed by Entain today (14 February). Founded in 2010 by Keith Meister, US-based Corvex invests across a range of markets.
This represents the second major development between Corvex and Entain in just over 12 months. In December 2023, Corvex took a 4.4% stake in Entain just days after Jette Nygaard-Andersen resigned as CEO.
Incidentally, the latest increase comes after Gavin Isaacs this week stepped down as CEO of Entain. The news broke on 11 February, with confirmation that Isaacs was departing from his role with immediate effect.
Entain non-executive chair, and previous interim CEO, Stella David, will resume the role while a permanent replacement for Isaacs is found. Isaacs has only been CEO for five months.
In its statement Entain said Isaacs’ departure was a “mutual” decision.
In a separate investor note released today (14 February), former non-executive director David Satz has been appointed Entain’s senior independent director with immediate effect.
He is also the chair of the sustainability & compliance committee and a member of the audit committee.
Corvex called for change in leadership
While Corvex is yet to comment on the exit of Isaacs, the hedge fund was damning in its evaluation of where the group was at when it took on its holding in December 2023.
At the time, Corvex said the management change was a “necessary” first step for Entain. It also called for more changes to remedy “unacceptable” performances by the group.
In terms of Entain’s current position, when announcing the departure of Isaacs, the group’s board said it was pleased with its performance in 2024.
The company still expects its FY’24 EBITDA guidance to be at the top of the £1.04 billion to £1.09 billion range. Entain is due to release its results and an update on current trading on 6 March.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/strategy/corvex-management-increases-entain-holding/
