Major Nordic online gambling merger imminent

The major Finnish online gambling organisations Veikkaus, Raha-automaattiyhdistys (RAY) and Fintoto will merge in the next few weeks to create a Nordic mega-company, the publication YLE reports.

The merger will create business synergies and could lead to staff cuts due to rationalisation, and only a third of the current management teams in all three organisations will be retained, the publication speculates.

A CEO of the merged organisation has yet to be named, with several top execs vying for the position and a salary that is likely to exceed Euro 450,000 a year.

Swedish betting company Nordicbet is offering odds on who will get the top job, with Juha Koponen of Veikkaus the favourite, followed by RAY’s Velipekka Nummikoski and Fintoto CEO Pertti Koskenniemi.

The odds have been assessed on the basis that the management incumbents have the most experience and knowledge of the companies, although outside recruitment for the top job has not been ruled out.

In terms of commercial track records, Veikkaus has performed the best of the three, and Koponen has a strong reputation as a business leader.