Management re-shufle at bwin.party

Cost-cutting measures at online gambling group Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment have claimed the jobs of three senior execs, all formerly Party Poker managers prior to the merger of Party Gaming and Bwin.

The three departing executives all have associations with the evolving US market and include business development chief Alen Lang, technology director Tod Martin and Steve Heller, the chied executive of the World Poker Tour subsidiary.

Lang’s US connection flows from his work in setting  up the Bwin.Party partnership with US land giants MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming, along with other deals that involved tribal interests and the battling US social gaming group Zynga. In addition to his eight years of service with Party Poker, Lang has built up an impressive empirical knowledge of the industry and it is unlikely that he will remain on the management market for long in an environment where his regulatory and commercial talents have such potential.

Heller also has an impressive track record since joining the Party Gaming group in 2005, and has been mainly involved in the top-management of its Asian activities, working from a US base. Early reports suggest that he will be replaced as CEO at World Poker Tour by the company’s president, Adam Pliska.

Martin, an experienced Party Gaming manager and chief technical officer of the group since 2008, was replaced post-merger by a Bwin executive earlier this year, switching his talents and respected capabilities to the development of US-relevant technology for the Bwin.Party group.

Earlier this year Jim Ryan, head of Party Gaming when the merger with Bwin took place, resigned as co-CEO of the merged group, leaving Norbert Teufelberger in sole command.

The company’s current performance has been lacklustre following a series of strategic decisions designed to better position it to operate in legal regulated markets and a “value vs. volume” approach to player acquisition.

Despite this, or perhaps as a result of it, Teufelberger is committed to cost-savings of Euro 70 million a year, and Bwin.Party will be watched with interest as it develops its ideas and business plans.

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