CEO and Chairman of GVC Sells Bulk of their Stakes

GVC Holdings PLC, a gambling and online gambling operator for both B2B and B2C markets, is going through some rough times when it comes to their share price.

The company went through a double-digit fall in its share price after both the company’s CEO and one of the Chairmen have sold off the bulk of their stakes that they hold in GVC.

The Sell-Off

On Friday’s trading on the London Stock Exchange, GVC’s shares closed out down almost 14% to 588.5p…

…after trading as low as 557p before staging a rally.

It is interesting that this sell-off came just a few days after the company revealed an impressive financial report for 2018.

This strange sell-off started after news broke that CEO of GVC Holdings, Mr. Kenneth Kenny Alexander and the company’s chairman, Lee Feldman, sold nearly 3 million of their shares in GVC.

Kenny Alexander sold 2.06m shares at a discounted price of £6.66 per share. That way, he earned £13.7 million and was left with ownership over 666,666 shares in GVC. His remaining shares are roughly worth around five times his annual base salary.

Feldman, on the other hand, sold 900k share at the same price. By selling his shares, he earned £6 million and was left with 287,408 shares in the company.

A Word from the CEO:

“We have both held large personal shareholdings in GVC for a long time and continue to do so. Both of us remain fully committed to GVC and, whilst I continue to have the of our shareholders, I’m here for the long term and at the very least I have a current plan that will take 3 plus years to accomplish,” Alexander commented in the official announcement.

“We reported excellent results earlier this week and we both remain convinced of the exciting prospects for the business. Therefore, while we continue at GVC we will not reduce our holdings below the current levels,” Alexander added.

Investors not Convinced

But, it looks like the investors are not convinced by the CEO’s reassurances. Some experts claim that Alexander might be suggesting that both he and Feldman are planning to leave the company…

…since Alexander said that they both won’t sell any more shares while they continue working at GVC.

In the past two years, GVC shareholders rebelled against Alexander’s annual pay package. During the year of 2017, 45% of the company’s shareholders voted against the remuneration report…

…while 44% voted against 2018’s report.

The share price of GVC peaked at £11.70 last July, which is more than twice of its value at the moment.

Also, it is interesting to notice that both Alexander and Feldman decided to sell off a huge amount of their shares only three weeks before the UK government increases the Remote Gaming Duty from 15% to 21%…

…and makes new stake reductions on fixed-odds betting terminals.

Source:

“GVC shares tumble as CEO, chairman sell bulk of their stakes”, Steven Stradbrooke, calvinayre.com, March 8, 2019.