REG - Entain PLC - Final Approval of Deferred Prosecution Agreement

EntainAnnouncement

05/12/2023 14:15

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RNS Number : 7597V  Entain PLC  05 December 2023

5 December 2023

 

Entain plc

 

("Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, "Group")

 

Final Approval of Deferred Prosecution Agreement

Entain plc (LSE: ENT), the global sports betting and gaming group, announces
that it has today entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), with the approval of Dame Victoria Sharp,
President of the King's Bench Division at the Royal Courts of Justice sitting
as the Crown Court at Southwark.

The DPA relates to alleged offences under Section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010
and, in particular, a failure by the Company to have adequate procedures in
place to prevent bribery in relation to its legacy Turkish-facing business.
The Turkish-facing business was sold by a former management team in 2017.

The DPA, which comes into effect on today's date, fully resolves HMRC's
investigation insofar as it concerns the Company and the Group.

As previously announced, under the terms of the DPA (which are in line with
the provision taken on 10 August 2023), the Company has agreed to pay a
financial penalty plus disgorgement of profits totalling £585 million, to
make a charitable donation of £20 million and to pay a contribution of £10
million to HMRC's and the CPS's costs. The financial penalty, disgorgement of
profits and the charitable donation will be paid in instalments over the term
of the DPA, which will be four years from today's date.

The Court has applied the full discount generally available to the financial
penalty in recognition of the Company's "exemplary" co-operation with HMRC and
the CPS.

Since the conduct giving rise to the DPA, the Group has undertaken a
comprehensive review of its anti-bribery policies and procedures and has taken
decisive action to significantly strengthen its wider compliance programme and
related controls. Recognition of the significant improvements made by the
Company is an integral feature of achieving a DPA.

Barry Gibson, Chairman said:

"This is the final step in a process that has hung over our business since
HMRC launched its investigation into a business that was sold by a former
management team six years ago.  We have cooperated extensively and
proactively at every stage of the process which, I am pleased to say, has been
recognised by the Court.  Entain has now fundamentally and profoundly
changed.  We can now concentrate on the future."

A summary of the Court's Judgment will shortly be made available on our
website at https://www.entaingroup.com/investor-relations/regulatory-news/
(https://www.entaingroup.com/investor-relations/regulatory-news/) .

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute
inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No.
596/2014 as it forms part of English law by virtue of the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018. The person responsible for releasing this announcement
on behalf of the Company is Simon Zinger, General Counsel. Upon the
publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to
be in the public domain.

Enquiries:

 Investor Relations - Entain plc                           investors@entaingroup.com (mailto:investors@entaingroup.com)

 David Lloyd-Seed, Chief IR & Communications Officer

Davina Hobbs, Head of Investor Relations

Aimee Remey, VP US IR

 Callum Sims, IR Manager

 Company Secretary                                         secretary@entaingroup.com (mailto:secretary@entaingroup.com)

 Media - Entain plc                                        media@entaingroup.com

 Lisa Attenborough, Head of Corporate Communications

 Jay Dossetter, Head of Corporate PR

 Jodie Hitch, PR Manager

 Media - Powerscourt                                       Tel: +44 (0) 20 7250 1446

 Rory Godson / Rob Greening / Russell Lynch                entain@powerscourt-group.com

 

About Entain plc

Entain plc (LSE: ENT) is a FTSE100 company and is one of the world's largest
sports betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail
sector. The Group owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands; Sports
brands include BetCity, bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds,
Sportingbet, Sports Interaction, STS, SuperSport and TAB NZ; Gaming brands
include Foxy Bingo, Gala, GiocoDigitale, Ninja Casino, Optibet, Partypoker and
PartyCasino. The Group owns proprietary technology across all its core product
verticals and in addition to its B2C operations provides services to a number
of third-party customers on a B2B basis.

The Group has a 50/50 joint venture, BetMGM, a leader in sports betting and
iGaming in the US. Entain provides the technology and capabilities which power
BetMGM as well as exclusive games and products, specially developed at its
in-house gaming studios. The Group is tax resident in the UK and is the only
global operator to exclusively operate in domestically regulated or regulating
markets operating in over 40 territories.

Entain is a leader in ESG, a member of FTSE4Good, the DJSI and is AA rated by
MSCI. The Group has set a science-based target, committing to be carbon net
zero by 2035 and through the Entain Foundation supports a variety of
initiatives, focusing on safer gambling, grassroots sport, diversity in
technology and community projects. For more information see the Group's
website: www.entaingroup.com
(https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/FfdgCAN7LT8BjjLH8w5bN?domain=entaingroup.com/)

 

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