Genesis Global Ltd Filed for Insolvency and Lays Off 140 Staff

Troubled igaming operator Genesis Global has laid off all of its employees, telling them it may not be able to pay their December wages, and begun insolvency proceedings, just two days before Christmas.

Genesis Global sent a letter to all of its 140 employees on 23 December, informing them that they would be made redundant.

Employees were told on Friday that Genesis Global Limited had filed for insolvency and that they were being made redundant after it had decided to “permanently close its operation in Malta”.

“Earlier this week, the company initiated proceedings in the courts of Malta to be declared insolvent,” the letter said. “As a consequence, this has unfortunately resulted in your position being declared redundant.”

The letter added that “the company may not be able to pay all of any of the dues that are due to you in terms of law”. This, it said, included December salaries as well as notice pay.

“We are currently trying our best to find a solution to this issue by trying to raise some funds, and in addition, we hope to liaise with the authorities concerned in order to ease the burden and find alternative solutions in order for you to be paid at least some of the money due to you,” the email read.

The news came just weeks after co-founder and CEO Ariel Reem announced that he had left the business following the announcement of the companies exit from the UK gambling market.

“It is time to move on to the next challenge/adventure,” Reem said in a LinkedIn post. “How to summarise eight years when building it from scratch? Over the years I saw how ideas were turned into reality and how impossible or extremely hard tasks were overcome with perseverance and passion.”

Workers were told that their last day of employment will be January 22 and that they will be on notice in the interim. They were also told to contact the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations for “guidance”.

Genesis Global Limited employed some 200 people in Malta, but had already started shedding workers in the past few weeks, laying off between 30 and 40 people after it became evident that it was running into the ground.