Widerström Spends $1.16M to Double 888 Shareholding

Per Widerström, the new head of 888 Holdings, has purchased over a million company shares, drastically increasing his stake. The move highlights the new CEO’s confidence in the value of the company’s shares and his conviction that the shares will rebound.

Widerström’s latest move saw him spend £949,000 (approximately $1.16 million) on a total of 1.1 million shares, more than doubling his shareholding. As a result, the newly-appointed CEO now owns 2,066,535 ordinary 888 shares. The estimated value of all shares Widerström now owns is north of £1.7 million (approximately $2.08 million).

The latest transaction saw Widerström spend 84.3p per share to buy 125,539 shares and 84.6p per share to buy a million more. It is likely that this transaction was prompted by the slowly recovering 888 share price. Although far from their September 2021 peak, the company’s shares have been exhibiting signs of improvement over the past few days.

Widerström is not the only executive to demonstrate his trust in the value of 888’s shares. His purchase mirrored the move of chairman Jonathan Mendelsohn who also purchased more shares last week. Mendelsohn’s transaction saw him buy 50,000 shares at 79.5p per share. For reference, 888’s chairman now possesses a total of 250,000 ordinary shares.

Widerström Trusts 888 Despite the Setbacks

Widerström officially assumed his new position a week ago. He resigned from a number of non-executive director positions at notable companies’ boards in order to dedicate all of his efforts to 888. Set to receive an annual salary of almost $823,000, Widerström called the new job a “thrilling chapter” in his career.

Trusting 888’s experience and popularity, the new CEO now hopes to further develop 888 and replicate and exceed its 2021 glory.

Unfortunately, the past few months were not kind to the company. A month ago, 888 cautioned investors about hurdles that would likely lead to a decline in the company’s Q3 performance. According to the holding’s announcement, a projected 10% Q3 drop will likely place the company’s quarterly revenue at roughly £400 million ($487.61 million).

The company optimistically hopes that the downturn will be temporary.

A week prior to 888’s cautionary statement, the company announced Sean Wilkins as the successor of Yariv Dafna. The company added that Vaughan Lewis will serve as interim CFO until Wilkins’ official appointment.