Meet Victoria's new racing boss
22/07/2008 3:57:32 PM
English-born businessman Rob Hines was named Racing Victoria's new chief executive officer on Tuesday morning.
A highly successful corporate executive, Hines, 55, has worked internationally and in Australia for a variety of different companies. He has spent much of the past 20 years living in Australia.
His most recent role was as chief executive of VeCommerce UK, which develops speech recognition systems for businesses including wagering operators such as Tabcorp and UniTAB in Australia and Ladbrokes in the UK.
He was managing director of Jupiters Limited, a Queensland-based wagering and gaming company, when it merged with Tabcorp in November 2003.
The $1.7 billion merger saw shareholders yield a 38 percent increase in value in just two years, RV said.
"His broad experience in the wagering and gaming space, his appreciation for the role of new technologies and recognised abilities as a highly effective negotiator will be a significant asset to Racing Victoria," said RVL chairman Michael Duffy.
Hines will head on vacation before starting his new role on August 11.
He replaces Stephen Allanson, who resigned in February this year with his reputation in tatters after it was revealed he had lied about placing 692 bets under a false name with a bookmaker.