Betfair CFO Leaving
Published: Friday, August 05, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
BETFAIR CFO LEAVING
Some say to make way for a more experienced IPO-oriented manager
Owen O’Donnell, chief financial officer of Betfair is about to leave on
31 August according to a company announcement which is being interpreted as
a move to strengthen Betfair's management team before a possible IPO in the
first quarter of 2006.
The gambling company recently appointed Morgan Stanley and Goldmann Sachs to
advise it on a possible flotation at the beginning of next year, with O'Donnell
rumoured to be making way for a more high-profile finance director.
Stephen Hill, chief executive of Betfair, said O’Donnell had made "...a
significant contribution to Betfair’s development during the past two years.
In particular we owe our strong controls environment and efficient financial
reporting system to his tenure. We are grateful to him and wish him well in
his future career,"Hill added.
There was no indication as to what O'Donnell's future career will entail.
The company said it would announce O’Donnell's successor as it 'entered
its next stage of development'.
Softening the pain of departure somewhat came the news that O'Donnell has 245 000 Betfair share options as part of his package on joining the betting exchange.
