Blackstone Inc.-backed Superbet Group hired Hans-Holger Albrecht, the former chief executive officer of Deezer SA, as chairman of the board as the Romanian betting and gaming operator prepares for an initial public offering.
(Bloomberg) — Blackstone Inc.-backed Superbet Group hired Hans-Holger Albrecht, the former chief executive officer of Deezer SA, as chairman of the board as the Romanian betting and gaming operator prepares for an initial public offering.
Albrecht on Feb. 28 will replace Superbet founder Sacha Dragic, who will become a member of the board, the company said in a statement to Bloomberg Wednesday. The move comes as the firm plans to expand beyond its core markets of Romania, Belgium and Poland.
“His in-depth financial knowledge and governance expertise will be of great benefit to the Group and our ambitions to become a publicly listed company,” Dragic said in the statement. A timeline for the IPO wasn’t given.
Europe’s IPO market was largely dormant in 2022 as rising interest rates and elevated inflation deterred investors, but a rebound in equity markets is prompting some companies to tentatively test market appetite for new stocks.
Italian gaming company Lottomatica is considering a listing as early as April, Reuters reported last week, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. The firm said previously it was mulling an IPO.
Superbet, which received a €175 million ($187 million) investment from Blackstone in 2019, operates in 10 European countries.
It earned more than €1 billion in revenue and €200 million in profit last year, the company’s press service said by email.
(Updates with 2022 results in last paragraph.)
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