Electronic table game (ETG) specialist Interblock announced on Tuesday that Kay Oswald (pictured) has been appointed as its chief executive.
Mr Oswald’s appointment concludes Interblock’s search for a CEO as announced in February, following the departure of John Connelly. During the search period, Bala Ganesan – managing director at Oaktree Capital Management LP – served as interim CEO.
Mr Oswald is said to have more than 25 years of leadership experience across “consumer, hardware and industrial technology” businesses across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Australia, according to Tuesday’s update.
He most recently served as CEO of KOHPA Technologies, an industrial technology company. Before that, he was CEO and a board member of Technogym USA Corp, the North American business of fitness equipment manufacturer Technogym.
“Following a rigourous search, the board is confident that Kay is the right leader to build on the world-class operating platform established over the past year and to capitalise on Interblock’s global growth opportunities including expanding our footprint across key regions and accelerating innovation in our product portfolio,” said David Quick, managing director at Oaktree and an Interblock board member, in remarks included in Tuesday’s announcement.
With Mr Ganesan’s interim CEO role ending, he will return to his full-time position at Oaktree and work to ensure a “seamless leadership transition,” the ETG supplier said.
Oaktree-related investment funds own a majority of the equity interests in Interblock.
“On behalf of the board, I want to thank Bala for his outstanding leadership as interim CEO. He strengthened Interblock’s operating disciplines, leadership bench, and execution across the business, and the company Kay inherits is stronger than at any point in its history. We are pleased that Bala will remain closely involved with Interblock in his role at Oaktree,” Mr Quick added.
The newly-appointed Interblock CEO said in prepared remarks: “Interblock is an exceptional company, which is the product of a talented global team, industry-leading innovation, and the disciplined operating platform Bala and the leadership team have been building over the last several months.”
