Former Ladbrokes CEO appointed as Nueva Codere non-exec chairman
Christopher Bell leaves his role as XLMedia chair to join newly restructured Spanish firm
Gambling industry heavyweight Christopher Bell has been appointed by the Nueva Codere board of directors to become non-executive chairman of the group.
The Madrid-based firm agreed on the proposal at the meeting of the board of directors on 19 January and the appointment is now subject to the approval of the shareholders’ general meeting scheduled for 7 February.
Bell has over 30 years’ experience in the gambling and sports betting industry. He joined Hilton Group PLC/Ladbrokes PLC in 1991, being recruited onto the board of directors a decade later. He became Ladbrokes CEO in 2006, a position he served in until 2010.
Holding a number of non-executive positions already, Bell has announced he will be leaving his roles withing the gambling industry as chair at XLMedia and as a senior independent director at Rank Group. He will remain as chair of video-game developer Team17 Group and OnTheMarket as well as his non-executive director position at the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises.
Speaking about his role at the newly Nasdaq-listed company, Bell commented: “Codere has demonstrated over the past 40 years its fundamental strength, versatility and leadership. It is exciting to be a part of this project and promote this new stage that the company has initiated, in its way back to a growth path and consolidation as a leading multinational in the private gambling industry.”
In a statement on his departure from XLMedia, he added: “It has been a privilege to chair XLMedia for almost eight years. 2022 marks the beginning of a leaner group structure set to benefit from significant progress made in rebalancing to have a greater focus on regulated high-growth markets. It feels like the right time to step aside.
“I wish everyone in the company and its shareholders every success in the future.”
Stuart Simms, CEO of XLMedia, said: “We are very grateful to Chris for his exceptional service to XLMedia.
“He has been very supportive as we have sought to restructure to become more agile and align the business with new growth markets – an initiative we will complete during the first half of this year.”
In November Codere was taken over by creditors with the company transferring to Codere New Topco SA. This saw the business restructured into four new companies namely Codere New Topco, Codere New Holdco, Codere New Midco and Codere Luxembourg 3.