The Board of Directors of Unibet Group (STO:UNIB) are considering to propose a change of the name of the holding company Unibet Group plc to Kindred Group plc in order to improve synergy, clarity and flexibility around the Group’s multi-brand strategy. The name change will not affect the customer facing brands such as Unibet, MariaCasino, Bingo.com, Stan James and iGame.
The Board of Directors of Unibet Group plc are considering a change of the name of the group holding company from Unibet Group plc to Kindred Group plc.
The strategic business rationale behind this decision relates to the fact that Unibet Group is a growing and changing company that today has ten consumer facing brands in the portfolio, many of them acquired. Over the last nine years the Board have seen an increasing benefit of adding more brands to the portfolio and the Board believes that the group will be better able to draw the full potential of these brands with a Group name that differs from the consumer brand. Whilst Unibet is one of the strongest consumer brands in online sports betting, casino, bingo and poker, the Board sees a risk of confusion regarding the difference between the company “Unibet Group” and the consumer brand “Unibet”.
The name change also includes a revised graphic identity including graphic identity and values to better cater for a group company that can serve a multitude of brands across several markets. The name change is a central part of the growth strategy and will not affect any of the consumer facing brands. Instead it creates clarity and flexibility, thereby optimising efficiency and lowering risk.
“In this rapidly changing industry, clarity is essential. This is why we now propose to change the name of our group company, thereby avoiding confusion and creating better conditions for our future growth. This is a minor and predominantly internal change as all the customer facing brands, such as Unibet, MariaCasino, Bingo.com, Stan James and iGame will remain the same. The change only relates to the group name”, says Anders Ström, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Unibet Group.
“Introducing a group name separate from our consumer facing brands will provide us with the necessary strategic flexibility to ensure we remain at the very forefront of our industry. As a group we have played an important part in driving the industry forward, and we intend to continue to do so in the future”, says Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Unibet Group.
The chosen name is based on an extensive analysis of the Group culture and identity. If you look up the word kindred in the dictionary, you will find that it refers to a relationship between people with similar beliefs, values and attitudes. The Unibet Group are proud of their strong culture and great people, and this proposed name truly describes the people of the Group.
The proposed name change is subject to approval by the owners at an Extraordinary General Meeting, which the Board of Directors intends to call for to take place in Stockholm on 6 December 2016.
If the EGM approves the resolution the first trading day on Nasdaq Stockholm under the new Kindred name is expected to be 12 December 2016.
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