Jim Ryan has announced he is to retire as co-CEO of bwin.party in January, with Norbert Teufelberger assuming the new role of group CEO.
bwin.party said former PartyGaming chief Ryan, who has declared his intention to return home to Canada with his family, will stand down on 15th January, when Teufelberger will become sole CEO.
Group executive chairman Simon Duffy said Ryan had played an instrumental role “in ensuring that the merger integration has proceeded as planned”, and that: “[H]aving secured a series of strategic partnerships including MGM, Boyd Gaming, United Auburn and Zynga, Jim now wants to return to Canada with his family. “
Ryan himself said: “I am immensely proud of what we have achieved and know that with Norbert at the helm, the business is in excellent hands and is particularly well-placed for the future.”
Teufelberger said Ryan had been “an excellent business partner over the past two and a half years” and wished him every success in whatever he decided to do next.
Having joined Gibraltar-based PartyGaming as CEO in June 2008 from bingo software business St Minver, Ryan became co-CEO of bwin.party in March 2011 following the completion of the merger with bwin.
Prior to leaving Canada and crossing the Atlantic to work in Gibraltar for St Minver, Ryan was CEO of UltimateBet software company Excapsa and CFO of CryptoLogic, the casino software business acquired by Amaya Gaming earlier this year.
Ryan’s success at bwin.party in overseeing the delivery of €40m of annual of synergies this year and securing a number of potentially valuable deals has however been overshadowed by the company’s struggles post-merger. Market cap is now around a third of the combined value of bwin and PartyGaming prior to the announcement of the merger, as the effects of the integration and regulatory turbulence in core markets such as Germany have taken their toll.
The company however said today that with the integration nearly complete, “we are entering a period of intense product and technology innovation”, for which Teufelberger’s experience, “is probably unrivalled.”
Article written by Stephen Carter
