Aristocrat Names Dafne Guisard CEO-Elect as Trevor Croker Plans April 2027 Exit

Aristocrat Leisure, the Sydney-based gaming supplier, said CEO and Managing Director Trevor Croker intends to retire in April 2027 and named Dafne Guisard, its Chief Commercial Officer for EMEA, as CEO-elect.

The board announced the succession alongside its FY26 results. Guisard, formerly Chief Operating Officer of Entain, is expected to take over after a transition, though the appointment is conditional. In the company's wording, it is "subject to the receipt of any necessary regulatory pre-approvals". No specific April date has been given.

What Aristocrat announced

The board named an internal successor after an external-advice process that weighed both internal and external candidates. Chairman Neil Chatfield pointed to continuity as the reason an in-house appointment made sense.

Chatfield credited Croker with a fourfold increase in market capitalization during his time as CEO and a 15% compound annual growth rate in EPSA, the company's headline earnings-per-share measure. Croker has served for more than a decade as CEO and 18 years in senior leadership. He has also chaired the American Gaming Association, the main U.S. casino-industry trade body.

Who is Dafne Guisard

Guisard joined Aristocrat's executive team in early 2026 as Chief Commercial Officer for EMEA, covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She has since also taken responsibility for Product Madness, Aristocrat's mobile games operating business.

Her route into the role runs through operator-side gaming and consumer goods:

• Entain: Chief Operating Officer, a post covered when Entain appointed Dafne Guisard as COO in November 2024. She left before joining Aristocrat.
• Kraft Heinz: Chief Strategy, Digital and Transformation Officer.
• Anheuser-Busch InBev: nine years with the brewer.

The move to Las Vegas puts the next CEO in the U.S. gaming hub, closer to the North American customer base that anchors Aristocrat's land-based business. It also follows a period in which Aristocrat has widened its digital footprint, including its completed NeoGames acquisition in 2024, and reshaped its senior team, as when it named Anne Tucker as Chief Legal Officer that same year.

FY26 results behind the announcement

Aristocrat released its FY26 figures the same day. Reported revenue fell because of currency movements, while constant-currency growth was positive.

The dividend has a record date of 26 November 2026 and a payment date of 8 December 2026. The company's results headline cited 13% EPSA growth and momentum into FY27, the year in which the handover is due.

Why the timing matters

CEO successions at listed gaming suppliers are closely watched because the incoming executive typically needs to clear licensing suitability processes in the jurisdictions where the group operates. Aristocrat has built that condition into the announcement and set a long runway, with Croker staying on for a year to support the handover.

It is also one of several top-level changes across the sector this season. Operators are making similar moves, including FanDuel's plan to name Christian Genetski permanent CEO from 1 January 2027. Aristocrat's route, an internal executive with commercial and operating experience across both supplier and operator businesses, is the continuity option its chairman described.

Status reviewed on 12 November 2026. Leadership details come from Aristocrat's release via PR Newswire, and the results figures from its FY26 release. More business news and Oceania coverage.