Intertain chief executive Fitzgerald to stand down

Intertain Group has announced that John Kennedy Fitzgerald has opted to step down as chief executive of the company.

Fitzgerald made the decision upon the completion of an independent committee review of the business, informing the bingo operator's board that he believes the firm’s “core business assets” for “continued growth and prosperity” are in place.

A company statement added that Fitzgerald had expressed the view that “central focus of the chief executive will change from asset acquisition to operational excellence and that the board should pursue a process for the recruitment of a new chief executive officer with this demonstrated skill competency”.

Intertain said it will now undertake a recruitment process for an “operationally-focused” chief executive, with a focus on candidates in European cities closer to the company’s core operations, which include JackpotJoy.

“We have assembled a terrific group of industry leading assets and I am fortunate to work with strong executives in our operating businesses,” Fitzgerald said.

“While we will continue to consider appropriate M&A opportunities to further strengthen our portfolio and we continue to receive expressions of interest from third parties interested in acquiring our assets, I have advised the board for some time that the longer term focus of our CEO should be on operations and I look forward to passing the baton when the board has identified the right person to lead us in the next stage of our growth.”

Stan Dunford, chairman of Intertain, added: “While the past few months have been hard for all of us, the strengthening of our management ranks for our growing and more complicated business, the recruitment of additional board skillsets to help strengthen our governance oversight and ultimately the addition of a CEO with a focus on operational excellence will all contribute to a better Intertain.”

Related article: Intertain forecasts better-than-expected revenue for 2015