GVC appoints Peel Hunt's Batram as head of investor relations

Online gaming operator GVC Holdings has appointed former Peel Hunt analyst Nick Batram to the newly-created role of head of investor relations and corporate strategy.

The appointment is the latest high profile recruitment to be announced ahead of the completion of the proposed acquisition of Bwin.party on 1 February.

Batram, who has spent more than 30 years working in City-related finance with experience of both the buy and sell sides of capital markets, is expected to take up his new role in the second quarter of the year.

He joins GVC from Peel Hunt, where he was head of the leisure & gaming team.

Chief executive officer Kenny Alexander said: “Nick is renowned in the Gaming Sector for having in-depth knowledge of the industry and I am delighted to welcome him to the GVC team.

“Nick's gravitas in the sector means shareholders will have a respected, knowledgeable and transparent first point of contact. Internally we will benefit from Nick's immense knowledge and contact base as well as his strong analytical skills."

The Telegraph reported on Monday that GVC expects to sell parts of the Kalixa payments business this year.

The company is said to have held early talks with payments processing firms and CEO Alexander told the Telegraph that he would probably dispose of small parts of the Kalixa division after the Bwin takeover.

Alexander said he was most likely to sell the parts of Kalixa that handle external processing to another payments business.

He dismissed suggestions he might sell Bwin’s Foxy Bingo brand, saying it was “a cracking business”.

At 0950 GMT, GVC Holdings shares were down 0.7% to 460p.