Former Entain executives sue UK Gambling Commission over halted 888 takeover

Former Entain executives Kenny Alexander and Lee Feldman have launched a civil lawsuit against the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), accusing the regulator of breaching their right to privacy when it intervened in their failed 2023 bid to take control of online casino operator 888 Holdings.

Alexander, Entain’s former chief executive, and Feldman, its former chair,claim the UKGC committed “misuse of private information and/or breach of confidence,” arguing the regulator caused the release of a statement that disclosed the existence of a licence review and the reasons for it. Their lawyers described the licence review as a “convenient fiction.”

Feldman told the court the regulator’s actions had caused him “damage, distress and embarrassment, as well as the loss of standing,” saying he had been “ostracised by my peers” and unable to work for two years. He also said he was concerned about what his children would read about him in the future.

The dispute stems from Alexander and Feldman’s June 2023 move to buy a 6.5% stake in 888 through FS Gaming, with the intention of returning to senior leadership roles. Talks collapsed after 888 said it could not obtain “the most basic assurances” addressing the UKGC’s concerns and announced it was ending negotiations.

The regulator told 888 it would review its operating licence because of the pair’s involvement in Entain during an HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) bribery investigation into its former Turkish-facing business, Headlong. UKGC asked whether the two men had been interviewed under caution or were suspects in the probe. Feldman later confirmed he knew Alexander was a suspect at the time.

The UKGC said it had “no choice” but to intervene once it became aware that both were suspects in Operation Incendiary, the HMRC investigation into alleged bribery and covert payment structures between 2011 and 2018. Entain agreed in 2023 to pay £650 million ($871.64 million) under a deferred prosecution agreement, one of the largest corporate settlements in UK history.

Alexander, Feldman and nine others were charged in August 2025 with bribery, fraud and tax offences, with a criminal trial scheduled for 2028.

In the civil case, the men argue the UKGC’s actions wrongly implied there had been an “adverse finding” against them and that 888 issued statements without giving them an opportunity to respond. Lawyers for the regulator told the court that none of the publications revealed private information, that the disclosures were in the public interest, and that the pair could have answered questions from 888 but instead complained of “fearmongering.”

The UKGC said the licence review was closed in March 2024 after the takeover attempt ended.

Separately, Alexander was fined £1,000 and banned from driving in 2021 after stealing a takeaway driver’s car and going on a drunken joyride in Perth, Scotland.