Hacksaw Gaming’s board has removed its group chief executive and put an M&A lawyer in post as CEO on an interim basis.
Christoffer Källberg has been removed as group CEO of Hacksaw, the Swedish slot developer with a rising profile in the US, with immediate effect after just over a year in the role.
The company’s board said it had conducted a “careful and thorough review” of its current leadership before concluding a change was necessary to further align with the Group’s strategic direction.
While the timing and nature of the decision has raised some eyebrows, Hacksaw’s chairman Patrick Svensk told Swedish business news site EFN that the company is simply looking for a change of strategic direction, and that the move is not the result of any incident.
The news comes ahead of a public holiday in Sweden, meaning the markets will not have a chance to react to the development until after the long weekend.
The departure comes just days after Hacksaw reported a strong set of first-quarter results, with revenue up 28% year-on-year to €57.6m and adjusted operating profit of €47.4m, representing an 82% margin.
Board member Ana Vrabic Verdir has been appointed interim group chief executive while the company conducts a search for a permanent replacement, supported by an executive search firm.
Vrabic Verdir – who is a corporate law and M&A lawyer with Alto Law AB – will step down from the board’s remuneration committee for the duration of her interim tenure.
Hacksaw chairman Svensk said: “I would like to thank Christoffer for successfully having led the company’s IPO on the large cap list on Nasdaq Stockholm in June last year and for his valuable contributions thereafter with a solid financial performance. I wish him all the best for the future.”
The board was keen to stress that its broader strategy remained intact. It said business and operations across the group’s subsidiaries would continue as normal, with Hacksaw remaining “supported by a strong core team in Sweden.”
