Online poker firm PartyGaming, which most notably operates Party Poker is about to name a new CEO. The online firm has been looking for a new chief executive since the surprise resignation of Richard Segal earlier this month. It has been reported that PartyGaming will make Mitch Garber their new CEO and one of the highest-paid executives in Britain.

Garber previously served as executive chairman for Fire One, which is an online payment company. It is believed that he has agreed in principle to that the job and an official announcement is expected later this week. His pay package will include 7 million shares a year for the next 3 years, which based at the current share price of 122.5p, means an annual £8.6m on top of his $585,000 base salary.

Garber, age 41, is a Canadian lawyer and in the past has advised governments on online gaming legislation. While at Fire One he was heavily involved in managing mergers and acquisitions, which is exactly what PartyGaming is after. PartyGaming believes in consolidation of the industry and has already taken over a few of its rivals. Garber seems to be a good fit for PartyGaming’s business goals.

The threat of online gaming crackdowns on offshore Internet betting in the US has lowered PartyGaming shares recently, but that is not why previous CEO Richard Segal resigned. At the time Segal’s resignation, the company had announced a 13% drop in full-year profits, but again Segal had been a well-rewarded and valuable employee.  He refused to move to Gibraltar, where the company is based and instead commuted weekly from London. Eventually he cited the need to be closer to his family as the reason for his departure. Mitch Garber will relocate to Gibraltar which no doubt makes shareholders happy. 

What this means is that barring any major US gaming legislation, PartyGaming who already has the largest poker room on the net, will aggressively be looking to expand their market share. This expanded market could cause a big industry shuffle as other companies are pushed out of the market. PartyGaming clearly believes that Mitch Garber is the person to take their profits to the next level.

Article by Angela Ford