Dieter John, FEG CEO: vision is nothing without the engine behind it

“Heritage is an asset, not an anchor,” asserts Dieter John, Chief Executive Officer of FEG (Fortuna Entertainment Group), as the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) gambling group readies itself for what it believes is a coming wave of consolidation in the region. The CEE markets have caught a lot of attention in recent years. Entain, the UK-based multinational, set up its Entain CEE division back in 2023, although it is now withdrawing from the joint venture. Flutter, another global giant, has been actively expanding. Dieter John, CEO of FEG – Source: FEG With regional and international competitors aplenty, FEG has set itself an ambitious goal of local leadership in its five core markets. John believes FEG stands to reap the rewards of a forthcoming consolidation, with the firm’s heritage, five year vision under the ‘FEG 2.0’ strategy, and focus on international talent boosting leadership’s confidence in success. “We see that consolidation is happening in the eastern and southeastern region,” John remarked in Lisbon. “We are the natural consolidator. If you look at our history, it’s a proven track record of M&A in many markets. “We started in Czechia in 1990, and moved into Slovakia in 1991. In 2005 we entered Poland, in 2015 we entered Romania, and in 2017, Croatia. Then there was an eight year pause because we had to fix the bases. We had to build our tech stack, invest in our product.” FEG has a lot of faith in its heritage as a CEE-founded, M&A driven group. Financial backing from long-term strategic partner Penta Investments, which supported the group’s entry into Lithuania via the acquisition of TOPsport in 2026, will also continue to play a critical role. “Penta has owned Fortuna now for 21 years,” John added. “Penta is strongly standing behind us, pushing more than ever and trusting us. That’s why we can invest and can go to new markets.” With leadership certain that consolidation is on the horizon, FEG sees itself as uniquely positioned to capitalise on this. John explained that in CEE countries many businesses “are very owner led”, but aren’t always sure on how to further scale – this is where FEG comes in. “We see to some extent that these countries are still very retail driven,” he continued. “We see that consolidation is happening because regulation and taxation is getting tighter. We only invest in premium brands – number one, two or three in the market. “The long tail will disappear because they cannot afford higher taxation or a more responsible gaming environment, and for us this is a good opportunity for us to invest in companies we think can add value, create synergies, and integrate well into our portfolio.” Investing in leadership As well as speaking to SBC in private, John also appeared on stage at the SBC Summit alongside four other c-level executives from across the iGaming space – including the Deputy CEO of Super Technologies, one of FEG”s main competitors in Romania. Something that became very clear all in this panel was the amount of experience John has brought to his role at FEG from prior positions in other industries – positions like Executive Vice President of aerospace giant Airbus, CEO of CEE and CIS operations for the rail manufacturer Bombardier, and CEO of German real-state firm Planet Home Group, among others. “Every sector, every industry is different, right?,” FEG’s CEO remarked at Lisbon’s Super Stage. “Every industry has its characteristics, its DNA, its specifics and tools. However, there are many things you can apply across all industries. “How to internalise companies, how to grow companies, how to drive innovation, how to simplify projects, how to standardise products, how to do M&A and how to integrate companies – and most importantly, how to build high-performance leadership teams.” These are some of the key principles defining the aforementioned FEG 2.0 strategy John has implemented at FEG, as well as an employment programme, “Fortuna Fit for Future’, which was adopted almost two years ago. John explained both to SBC News. “We want to be the innovation leader and the leader in customer engagement, and I think its all about people,” he said. “I’ve changed almost 80% of the leadership team, we have people in the team from different nationalities, a good mix of sector experience and conceptual experience. “My aim is to establish the Fortuna Entertainment Group as the best international employer of choice. A vision is good, but to make it happen, you need to have a strong engine.” Leveraging heritage In John and FEG’s view, there are two different kinds of experience that will be vital as the company prepares for the anticipated conciliation of the CEE markets, and the M&A opportunities that come along with this. First is the experience of its staff and leadership, and second is the experience the company has as a whole – from the key asset it believes is its heritage from nearly three decades of experience of the CEE”s betting and gaming markets. “We are already the operator with the strongest geographic footprint,” John said, confidently. “We have known this region for over 26 years. We know many people in this region and understand the culture. We have demonstrated across all our accusations that we can massively increase the value proposition. “If you look across the globe over the past 20 years, the CEE is one of the best regions. We see significant GDP growth per capita, we have seen the EU accession of most of the markets which has tripled the GDP and doubled consumer spending. “There is a lot of investment and development money from the EU going into this region, and there is a big affinity for our industry. Players enjoy sports and like to bet, and that makes it a good place to be from a macroeconomic and geopolitical standpoint.” FEG and others clearly see huge opportunities in the CEE region, and so the topic of consolidation brings us to just one more development – the forthcoming breakup of Entain CEE, the abovementioned joint venture between Entain and EMMA Capital. Entain is selling its stakes in the JV – created via the 2022 acquisition of Croatia’s SuperSport and 2023 acquisition of STS Holdings – to its partner. With FEG a business always open to an M&A opportunity, we were was curious how closely the firm is following this development… “I’m following every potential investment in the region, as well as out of the region, because our M&A approach is very opportunistic,” John told us. “SuperSport in Croatia and STS in Poland … we are following very, very closely, like many, many other opportunities which are coming up.”