The story of how Toni Korsanos and Jamie Odell took the reins of Scientific Games – an American company – from Ron Perelman is a tenacious one.
Odell promoted Korsanos as the company’s chief financial officer long ago.
“I was the only CFO he hired over his tenure,” Korsanos laughed. “I lasted the distance.”
It was a bond that would underpin one of the most remarkable changes of control of a multinational company.
Scientific Games had one overwhelming issue: its huge debt.
“It wasn’t a broken business but the debt masked it,” Korsanos tells the Australian.
She started developing new talent and looking at gaming strategy with Odell and the management.
Odell and Korsanos set out to reshape the Scientific Games portfolio of assets, removing two businesses, SG Lotteries and OpenBet, and redefining the company as a leader in content and gaming with the three platforms for growth: land-based gaming, social gaming, and real money gaming online.
Scientific Games recently offloaded its SG Lotteries to Canadians Brookfield for US$6 billion.
The two sales should be wrapped up by the second quarter of 2022, delivering Sci Games an investment-grade balance sheet.
“With money to invest, good dry powder,” said Odell.
Read the full story at The Australian
