Online gaming operator bwin.party has announced the appointment of Daniel Silvers as a non-executive director of the firm.
The appointment has been made under the terms of a relationship agreement between bwin.party, Emerald Bay Limited and Stinson Ridge Limited that was approved by shareholders in January 2011.
Bwin.party activist investor SpingOwl also became a party to the agreement in February 2014 when it acquired 6.1% of the operator’s issued share capital from Emerald and Stinson, together with the director nomination right.
As reported by iGaming Business last month, SpringOwl nominated Silvers for appointment to the bwin.party board of directors.
Silvers currently serves as president of SpringOwl as well as on the board of directors of India Hospitality Corp.
He has also previously served on the board of directors of both International Game Technology and Universal Health Services.
The appointment comes shortly after bwin.party announced a number of board changes in order to appease an ongoing situation with SpringOwl.
The announcement saw SpringOwl withdraw its four resolutions that were scheduled to be put to shareholders at bwin.party’s annual general meeting last month.
SpringOwl submitted a number of resolutions, including its intention to place four representatives on the bwin.party board, ahead of the firm’s AGM.
SpringOwl gained the right to put forward a single nominee after it purchased a 6.1% stake from the operator’s founders when they divorced. The four other nominees would have been in addition to the existing right.
However, bwin.party responded by recommending that its shareholders ‘vote against’ the resolutions due to the lack of information it received on the nominees proposed and that the resolutions would not be in the best interests of the company.
Meanwhile, US casino operator Boyd Gaming, bwin.party’s partner in New Jersey, has agreed a significant tax refund with the US state.
According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the settlement will see Boyd Gaming refunded $88.3 million (€65.2 million) for tax years 2011 through 2013 and will give the operator a tax credit of $17.9 million for 2014.
The state has also agreed to a defined property-tax assessment for some of the firm’s properties for 2015.
In response, Boyd Gaming has agreed not to contest further the property-tax assessments for the tax years 2011 through to 2015, subject to a number of conditions.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
