Online Casino News and Information

TIMES ONLINE - THE SUNDAY TIMES
January 7, 2007
Matthew Goodman

THE company that owns the Jackpotjoy online gaming site is in talks with an American casino group about a possible £200m takeover.

A deal would create fortunes for Gamesys’s three founders, who own about two-thirds of the company, and would bring huge windfalls for the firm’s 51 staff, who own most of the rest of the business.

The company’s Jackpotjoy site offers online bingo as well as a variety of instant-win games, including one based on the popular television show Deal or no Deal.

Gamesys, which launched Jackpotjoy in 2001, has received a number of approaches from potential bidders after breaking off talks in the autumn with Party Gaming, the internet poker operator.

One of these is understood to have come from a casino operator based in America. Its identity is unknown, but Gamesys’s three founders — Noel Hayden, Andrew Dixon and Robin Tombs — are said to have travelled to America around Christmas to discuss a deal.

One industry source said that Gamesys’s talks with potential buyers are still at an early stage.

The discussions with Party Gaming are said to have centred on a deal valuing Gamesys at up to £200m but the shareholders are expected to want more than this if they are to be persuaded to sell after continued strong trading. The operation should benefit from further exposure this week as it is a sponsor of the World Professional Darts championship, which started yesterday.

Gamesys has more than 900,000 subscribers, more than half of whom are female, and had sales of £9.5m in 2005.

The company declined to comment.

THIS ARTICLE CAN BE READ AT TIMES ONLINE - THE SUNDAY TIMES

Perspectives Weekly - January 5th, 2007 is out for viewing. Produced by APCW, Perspectives Weekly is always a highly entertaining and informative weekly video of what’s happening in the world of online gaming. This week J Todd discusses legalized online gambling in New York and PartyGaming. Best viewed with broadband or DSL.

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Yahoo!
Playtech Announces New Software Licensing Agreement With PartyGaming Plc (’PartyGaming’)
Tuesday January 2, 7:05 am ET

DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN, England, January 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Further to the statement issued by PartyGaming on Friday 29 December 2006 on the acquisition of certain businesses and assets from both Empire Online Limited (’EOL’) and Intercontinental Online Gaming Limited (’Intercontinental’), Playtech (AIM: PTEC) is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a new long term software licensing agreement with PartyGaming. This agreement is subject to the successful completion of the above stated acquisition that is currently seeking shareholder approval from EOL.

Under the terms of the four-year agreement, the online gaming websites currently operated by EOL and Intercontinental will remain exclusively on the Playtech platform. These websites will continue operating as usual and will also provide the added advantage of cross-selling opportunities to the current PartyGaming player database.

The online gaming websites operated by EOL and International that are being acquired by PartyGaming include NoblePoker.com, Clubdicecasino.com, EnterCasino.com, MissBingo.com, FairPoker.com and MagicBoxCasino.com. In addition to this, PartyGaming will have access to the full range of Playtech’s casino, poker and bingo products.

Avigur Zmora, Chief Executive Officer of Playtech, commented:

“This agreement with PartyGaming is a real endorsement from the leading online gaming company and we are delighted to have established this important relationship. The fact that PartyGaming has chosen to continue operating these sites on the Playtech platform is a clear indication of the market leading position that our software holds. We believe that Playtech’s software will compliment PartyGaming’s existing products whilst providing an additional route to further revenue enhancement. We look forward to a long and successful partnership with PartyGaming.”