A spokesperson for bwin party activist investment fund Spring Owl has told iGaming Business that the independence of the fund’s founder Jason Ader could not be questioned and that there was no conflict of interest between Spring Owl’s involvement in bwin party and the fact that Ader is a board member of Las Vegas Sands, whose owner Sheldon Adelson has declared that he is ready to “spend whatever it takes” to stop online gaming being regulated in the US.
Spring Owl Gibraltar Partners took a 6% stake in bwin party in February and has since pushed for placing four nominees of its choice to bwin party’s board in a bid to “meaningfully improve shareholder value”.
iGaming Business asked Jason Ader’s representatives how Spring Owl’s position as second largest stakeholder in bwin party and his board membership of Las Vegas Sands could be reconciled when bwin party’s corporate and strategic objectives were so dependent on US igaming regulation, to which LVS owner Sheldon Adelson is so strongly and vocally opposed.
“Adelson appreciates Ader’s participation (in bwin party) because he is an independent thinker” said Ader’s spokesperson. “That he is on the board of LVS and looking to make bwin party stronger only advances the argument for Jason’s independence. Ader has an eye for improving corporate management and building shareholder value, that is what he brings to the business environments he engages with”.
However, some media outlets have questioned Jason Ader’s credentials, the London Evening Standard last week said Ader “was founder and chairman of US bank Western Liberty Bancorp, snapped up by Western Alliance “at a 70% premium to the market price” in 2012. It doesn’t mention the exit price — $4.03 a share — was less than half Western Liberty’s peak three years earlier”.
Spring Owl’s four proposed nominees to the bwin party board are Steve Rittvo, Michael Fertik, Francis Grady and Kalendu Patel.
In a column published on Seekingalpha.com in November 2013, Rittvo, who is chairman and co-founder of the investment bank Innovation Capital, says Sheldon Adelson is a client and that he agrees with the LVS owner “that igaming is likely to increase cases of problem gambling”, but that “internet gaming can be monitored, strategies developed and implemented to protect the player and the industry can create marketing programs and related legislation to integrate itself effectively”.
When asked what Rittvo’s and Jason Ader’s exact positions on regulated igaming in the US were, the spokesperson said Ader’s “ideal is that if a (US) state wants gaming, the people vote to approve it, then the government should tax it, regulate it and make certain that the gaming companies maintain strong awareness and assistance campaigns to help people who may fall victim to compulsive, abusive or addictive behaviour”.
The war of words between Spring Owl and bwin party has intensified in recent weeks as the former has moved to place its nominees on the igaming company’s board. The Daily Telegraph reported in early May that questions were being raised about the independence of Spring Owl’s four nominees.
The newspaper said it had “revealed business links between Mr Ader and three of his four “highly-qualified Independent Director candidates”, which implies that they are independent only to Bwin and not Mr Ader”. The parties concerned denied any lack of independence.
bwin party’s shareholders are due to vote on Spring Owl’s board nominees on May 22, the company urged its shareholders to reject Spring Owl’s board nominations at the end of April and declined to comment on this story when contacted by iGaming Business.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
