Greek Gambling Company Has New Board of Directors

The Greek gaming monopoly OPAP has recently replaced ten members out of the eleven directors, as hedge fund Emma Delta has taken over the firm. Only three of the new gaming directors are Greek, while eight of them are foreigners, the company being controlled by Czech investor Jiri Smejc and Greek entrepreneur George Melissanidis. The consortium paid no less than EUR 622 million for 33 percent of OPAP rights and will still have to pay EUR 3 million per year during the next ten years.

The hedge fund also announced that the position of chairman and chief executive officer will be occupied by the former CEO of Czech national lottery operator SAZKA, Kamil Ziegler, who expressed the idea that the new team is ready to invest in the company and in the gaming industry in Greece in the long run.

OPAP is currently one of the most controversial European listed gaming firms and offers sports betting and lottery games. OPAP revenues hit EUR 1.3 billion in 2012 and the new board of directors is expected to take into consideration an expansion plan in order to introduce online gambling and video lotto, when casino software development companies will create solutions for Greek operators who will seek to open online gaming sites.