GiG CFO Phil Richards steps down after two and a half years
Gaming Innovation Group chief financial officer Phil Richards has left the company after two and a half years.
Richards said in a LinkedIn post published on Monday that October had been his final month at GiG. He is due to join design and visualisation software company Chaos as its chief financial officer in December.
His departure took effect on 2 November, the company confirms.
Handover arrangements under way
GiG says transition arrangements are in place to maintain continuity across finance, reporting and regulatory oversight while it searches for a successor. Richards will remain available during the handover and the board has begun the appointment process.
Richards took up the CFO role in July 2024. Before joining GiG, he spent nearly six years at gambling technology supplier Kambi in senior finance roles. His earlier career roles included being CFO at Corero Network Security as well as having senior positions at Shell and KPMG.
Richards announced he would become the CFO at Chaos from the start of December.
Richard Carter, CEO of GiG emphasises the important role that Richards played while at GiG.
“On behalf of management and the board, I would like to thank Phil for his contribution to GiG,” Carter says. “He has played an important role in the company’s financial reporting, investor relations and corporate development activity, and we wish him well for the future.”
Richards ‘proud’ of 888Africa acquisition
During Richards’ tenure, GiG completed its initial public offering and pursued a sharper focus on its platform business. The company also acquired a majority stake in 888Africa.
Reflecting on his time at GiG, Richards says: “It has been a period of real change for GiG and one of which I’m immensely proud: starting with the IPO, alongside our significantly sharpening both the focus and quality of our platform offering while strengthening financial reporting and investor engagement, culminating with completing the acquisition of a majority stake in 888Africa.”
The 888Africa acquisition, announced in August, was GiG’s first return to B2C gaming in a few years. It planned to acquire an 80% stake in Evoke’s 888Africa, in a deal worth up to €16.4 million.
Speaking to iGB in September, Richards emphasised that the deal gave GiG a “strategic bridgehead” for its core B2B business.
“That dual value is really the point of the deal,” he explained at the time. “Owning a leading local operator gives us direct, ground-level insight into regulatory developments, player behaviour and payment infrastructure across several African markets; insight that is very difficult to build from the outside.”
Further developments within this new acquisition will continue with a new face at the helm, yet to be announced.