Another story from the BBC:
Gambling firm Partygaming has confirmed it is to buy the gaming assets of rival Empire Online for £19.2m ($37.96m).
The deal will see Partygaming take control of online gambling sites such as Noble Poker and Club Dice casino.
Empire said the recent crackdown on internet gaming in the US, where most of its business was based, had made it impossible for it to stay independent.
In a separate deal, Partygaming is also acquiring the gaming assets of Intercontinental Online for about £14m.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 10:43 AM GMT
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Another story from the BBC:
Gambling firm Partygaming has confirmed it is in talks to buy the gaming assets of smaller rival Empire Online.
Analysts said the deal could be worth about $40m (£20.4m), and would probably include Empire’s Noble Poker and Club Dice casino websites.
Shares in Partygaming rose 2.5% on the news in mid-day trading in London.
The company has been refocusing its business after it pulled out of the US market following the tightening of anti-gambling laws there.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 3:14 PM GMT
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More from The Times Online:
SPORTINGBET, the online gambling operator, yesterday played down the chances that it might launch a fresh bid for Empire Online but reiterated its acquisitive ambitions.
The company launched a preliminary bid for Empire in September worth 270p a share, equivalent to about £790 million, only to pull out when a profit warning from PartyGaming prompted a collapse in internet gambling stocks. PartyGaming subsequently launched its own bid for Empire, but was forced to withdraw after its 60p-a-share offer was resoundingly rejected. Empire is now threatening to sue PartyGaming for several hundred million dollars.
But hopes that Sportingbet might launch a fresh attempt look wide of the mark. Andrew McIver, its finance director, said: “I think we’ve moved on from there. But the industry is ripe for consolidation, and we are a natural acquirer.”
Sportingbet provided a shot in the arm to the sector yesterday with a strong set of first-quarter figures. Pre-tax profits for the three months to the end of October jumped from £2.6 million to £14.3 million and basic earnings per share reached 6.2p (2.1p).
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 12:11 AM GMT
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More from The Times Online:
PARTYGAMING, the world’s biggest internet poker company, surprised the market yesterday by confirming that it had made a bid approach to Empire Online — less than four weeks after it was partly responsible for a collapse in Empire’s share price.
It is thought to be bidding about 135p a share for Empire, equivalent to almost £400 million. That is well below the 175p it floated at in June and just half the 270p-a-share offered by Sportingbet before the collapse in online gambling stocks — again sparked by PartyGaming — caused the deal to collapse.
One analyst described PartyGaming’s approach as “decidedly cheeky”, adding: “The reason Empire’s shares are as low as they are is more or less down to one company. That company is PartyGaming.”
Empire, which is a so-called “skin”, makes money from directing poker players from its own websites to PartyGaming’s poker platform. The announcement last month that PartyGaming would be creating a new platform exclusively for its own customers, leaving skin customers to play on an inferior platform, sent Empire’s shares down by a third in a single day.
I’ve not been following this stuff for long, but it’s really interesting seeing all the stuff that’s going on out in the online gambling world.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 9:11 AM GMT
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More from The Times Online:
THE losing streak suffered by investors in internet gambling stocks gathered pace yesterday after comments from the founder of Empire Online sparked fresh doubts over the sector’s prospects for growth.
Shares fell across the sector after Noam Lanir, Empire’s chief executive, suggested that although his own company had seen strong third-quarter growth in both revenues and new players, the market as a whole had been “more like flattish”.
Shares of PartyGaming, which floated at 116p in June, fell 9p to 71p, while 888 Holdings lost 18¼p to 143p, down from 175p at its float price less than two weeks ago. Sportingbet was off 20½p at 286p.
Despite’s Mr Lanir’s assertion that Empire’s performance had been “much ahead of the market”, its shares were the worst performer, tumbling by 62p — or 34 per cent — to just 121p against 175p at flotation in June. Last month, Sportingbet withdrew a 270p-a-share takeover bid for Empire.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 8:11 AM BST
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Another story from the BBC:
Partygaming will no longer let players of websites owned by rivals like Empire Online and Coral Eurobet gamble at the same tables as its Partypoker clients.
The online firm has launched a new platform just for its nine million customers, adding features including blackjack and gambling on card colours.
And new software will let it separate its players from those entering via "skin sites" such as Empire and Coral.
Empire Online shares fell 30% and those in Partygaming 8% on Monday afternoon.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 4:11 PM BST
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More from The Times Online:
SPORTINGBET, the online gambling operator, has ended discussions to buy Empire Online for £790 million amid concern in the City that the targeted company does not actually have any customers.
Sportingbet failed to deny speculation that the poker websites Empire Online runs under the aegis of PartyGaming and 888 Holdings meant it was essentially a marketing team without a customer base.
Fears that Empire Online could be much less valuable than previously thought after the emergence of the “customer issue” sent the company’s shares plunging 20 per cent.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 8:11 AM BST
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