International sports betting and gambling company Entain, the owner of a number of brands including Ladbrokes and Coral, has succumbed to pressure from activist hedge fund investors with the appointment of Eminence Capital founder Rick Sandler as a Non-Executuve Director, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The appointment follows the abrupt departure last month of CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen, who was succeeded on an interim basis by Non-Executive Director Stella David.

According top the report, Sandler, who will sit on the board’s governance and capital allocation committees, will work “to identify an additional non-executive director mutually agreeable to Eminence and the company".

Eminence, which holds a stake of about 5% in Entain, indicated previously that it would seek to appoint three new non-executive directors and all suggested that the company should explore the sale of some or all of its stake in BetMGM, its American betting joint venture, which it co-owns with MGM Resorts International.