PointsBet Holding has announced a series of changes to its board of directors, including the addition of three executives from now-majority shareholder MIXI Australia.
Sho Okuyama, Kanji Kobayashi and Taishi Oba all join the PointsBet board with immediate effect. Each will serve as a non-executive director of the business.
Okuyama joined MIXI in 2016 after working in venture capital and start-ups. He is head of the investment and business development department at MIXI and also heads up its TIPSTAR business.
Kobayashi has been with MIXI since 2007 and is currently general manager of its legal affairs division. In this role, he has responsibility for general corporate legal affairs, intellectual property, M&A and crisis management response.
Oba joined MIXI in 2024 after spells with KPMG Japan and VT Holdings. At present, he works as general manager of the integration management division at the company, working across deal execution and post-merger integration.
Patton continues as chair of PointsBet
PointsBet also confirmed that Brett Patton will remain as chairman of the PointsBet board. In addition, Sam Swannell, CEO of the business, will continue as a director.
Becky Harris, Tony Symons, Kosha Gada, Peter McCluskey and William Grounds all resigned as directors of the board.
“PointsBet welcomes Mr Okuyama, Mr Kobayashi and Mr Oba to the board,” the operator said in a statement. “We are looking forward to working with each incoming director and PointsBet’s major shareholder, MIXI Australia.
“We thank each of the retiring directors for the dedication, service, professionalism, expertise and experience they have contributed individually and collectively to the company.”
Betr still has a say despite MIXI takeover
MIXI completed its takeover offer for PointsBet in September, securing 66.43% of the overall voting power in the operator.
However, its route to a majority holding was far from simple, having faced competition from Betr Entertainment. Betr hoped for a full takeover but had to settle for an increased holding after MIXI came out on top.
Betr now holds 27.72% of the total holding in the business, having previously owned 19.9% before lodging its takeover offer. Its offer closed on 25 September, with Betr now holding an additional 30,341,074 shares in PointsBet.
While MIXI will have the majority in company matters, Betr will still have its say. Upon the closure of its offer, MIXI said the additional voting powers enable it to “block” actions it deems to be against the interests of shareholders.
“This stake will be large enough to block actions that run against shareholder interests and drive constructive engagement with MIXI and the PointsBet board on value creation,” Betr said.
MIXI’s Sho Okuyama, Kanji Kobayashi and Taishi Oba all join the PointsBet board.