Evolution appoints Martin Carlesund as Malta CEO

Evolution Gaming has appointed Martin Carlesund as CEO of Evolution Malta, with group chief executive Jens von Bahr stepping back from day-to-day operations to focus on building “long-term shareholder value”.

Carlesund, who was most recently CEO of gaming affiliate HighLight Media and previously served as chief executive of search engines Eniro Sweden and Finland, has joined the recently listed firm with immediate effect and assumed the Malta-based responsibilities previously carried out by von Bahr

“I’m very impressed by Evolution’s past success and could not resist the chance to contribute to the company’s continued development,” Carlesund said.

The appointment of a dedicated Malta CEO signals the start of the firm’s plans to scale-up following March’s £225m float on the Nasdaq First North Premier market.

“I’m delighted to welcome Martin to the team, whose profile is a perfect fit for the role of CEO of Evolution Malta. In addition, the appointment enables me to focus solely on building long-term shareholder value at group level,” von Bahr said.

While more than 1,000 of Evolution’s 1,300 staff are based at the firm’s Latvia base, the company opened a second central studio in Malta at the start of 2014.

Last month the firm announced 43% year-on-year increase in revenues for Q1 2015, boosted by new deals including a major integration with PokerStars.

Following March’s IPO, von Bahr said Evolution was “well positioned to take advantage of the expected future growth of the market”.