Better Collective proposes adding former NetEnt CEO Hillman to board

| By Robert Fletcher
Affiliate business Better Collective has proposed electing Therese Hillman, the former chief executive of NetEnt, as a new board member.
Therese-Hillman

Hillman stepped down as CEO of slots specialist NetEnt this month following its SEK19.6bn (£1.67bn/€1.93bn/$2.28bn) acquisition by Evolution.

Ranked as one of the industry’s most influential women by iGB in 2019, Hillman joined NetEnt in January 2017 as chief financial officer. She went on to become interim CEO in April 2018, before moving into the role on a full-time basis in the following month.

Prior to this, she had a spell as CEO of sports nutrition business Gymgrossisten and spent time serving on the board of Unibet Group, which later became Kindred.

The proposition from Better Collective’s nomination committee will be discussed at the affiliate’s annual general meeting on 26 April.

“Therese’s experience from the igaming market is highly relevant for Better Collective,” Better Collective chairman Jens Bager said. “Therese will, among other things, support the company in its ambitious strategy to continue consolidating the market and growing in new markets such as the fast growing US sports betting market.”

Better Collective’s nomination committee also proposed re-electing Bager as chairman of the board, as well as Todd Dunlap, Klaus Holse, Leif Nørgaard and Petra von Rohr as board members.

However, it was confirmed that Søren Jørgensen will not seek re-election to the board, but will instead take on consultancy role with Better Collective founders Jesper Søgaard and Christian Kirk Rasmussen.

“I would like to thank Søren for his outstanding efforts on the board since 2014,” Bager said. “Søren has been instrumental in shaping the M&A strategy and building the in house knowledge that has led to 20 acquisitions so far.”

The proposed board appointments come after Better Collective last month said that merger and acquisition activity during its 2020 financial year helped drive year-on-year growth in both revenue and profit.

Overall revenue for the 12 months to 31 December 2020 was up 35.3% year-on-year to €91.2m, while profit also increased 57.6% to €21.9m.

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