After a tumultuous 2008 for the company, the Swedish online gaming conglomerate Svenska Spel announced today that a new Chief Executive Officer for the company has been found.
Meta Persdotter will assume the role of CEO of the company on February 1st, replacing former CEO Jesper Kärrbrink. Kärrbrink resigned in April 2008 due to differences in opinion on how Svenska Spel should be managed and the direction that the company should take. Kärrbrink said at that time it had become evident that his ideas on how Svenska Spel should operate differed from those of its owners.
Persdotter joins Svenska Spel after serving as the CEO of the Swedish company Duka AB for the past two years. Duka is one of the largest retailer chains of home decor, designed glass and home furniture in northern Europe. Prior to that, Persdotter had ten years of marketing and sales experience with the international company IKEA.
Persdotter has no illusions that the job she is stepping into will be easy. “Svenska Spel is the leading player in a market that is facing both changes and challenges,” Persdotter said during her presentation as the new CEO of the company. “It feels incredibly inspiring to be given the task of leading one of the world’s most prominent gaming companies into a very exciting future.”
The company has Sweden’s monopoly on gaming, which has come under fire from many other online poker and gaming companies as well as other nations in the European Union. In December, an official study of the gaming legislation in Sweden proposed the idea for a licensing system for the country; this, however, will not take place for at least two years. In the meantime, Svenska Spel will be allowed to have a monopoly over land-based casinos, lotteries and online poker. This may not be enough to satisfy the European Commission, which has targeted the nationalistic monopolies that some countries, including Sweden, have created for their citizens regarding online poker and gaming.
Persdotter has clear ideas on how to lead the company into the future. While she wants to maintain their wide variety of gaming options, the continued focus of the company on responsible gaming is a priority. “Svenska Spel’s large number of well-known, popular products, combined with a leading position in the market regarding responsible gaming and a very strong association with sport, gives the company unique conditions for building up an operation in the long term that is credible, popular and in demand from both customers and other interested parties in society,” she said. “Svenska Spel is a very strong brand with a presence in Swedish society that few other companies can match. This is a position that we must be proud of while at the same time making sure that we improve it as best we can.”
Margareta Winberg, the former Social Democrat Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and former Swedish ambassador to Brazil who serves as the Chair of Svenska Spel, was quite happy with the decision to name Persdotter to helm the company. “We’re very pleased to be able to present Meta Persdotter as Svenska Spel’s new CEO,” she stated.
“She has an excellent background in commerce and broad experience of developing both organizations and individuals, as well as customer service and various consumer-oriented business operations. These experiences, combined with excellent personal leadership qualities, will be extremely valuable to Svenska Spel.”
