Entain appoints HR specialist Brown as non-executive director
Brown takes on the position at Entain having most recently served as chief human resources officer at Hiscox. She served in the role from 2006 until the summer of last year.
Prior to this, Brown was human resources director for Marriott Hotels at Whitbread. She was also compensation and benefits director for Europe and Africa, and human resources director for Walkers, at PepsiCo.
In addition, she spent time as human resources manager at Mars Confectionery.
Alongside her new role at Entain, Brown is currently a non-executive director at Mitchells & Butlers and Manchester Airport Group. Upon joining Entain, she will also become a member of the Remuneration Committee.
“On behalf of the board, I am delighted to welcome Amanda to Entain,” chairman Barry Gibson said. “Amanda brings a wealth of international business and board experience.
“I am confident her skills and expertise will further enhance the board’s ability to support and oversee the delivery of our strategy.”
Entain scales back B2C operations at Unikrn
The appointment comes after Entain this month revealed it will scale back B2C operations within its Unikrn esports betting arm. This, it says, is part of a repositioning of its esports offering.
Entain acquired Unikrn in October 2021 to strengthen its esports business. It relaunched the brand in December 2022 and set out plans to launch in more regulated markets worldwide
However, less than 12 months after the relaunch, Entain says it will be scaling back direct-to-consumer operations within Unikrn.
Entain did not disclose any further details about Unikrn and the future of the division.
The announcement came just days after Entain completed its latest acquisition in the form of Angstrom Sports. The deal is valued at up to £203.0m (€234.7m/$247.2m), with Entain paying an initial £81.0m for the sports modelling, forecasting and analytics specialist.
Other recent acquisitions include SuperSport in Croatia, purchased by Entain at the end of 2022. Entain also acquired Polish sportsbook operator STS Holding.