Morning all, morning active, looks to me like mergers are on the cards and we might see a lot more in the coming months.
Published: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
EMPIRE ONLINE POKER OWNER SELLS SHARES TO PARTY GAMING
The consolidation wagon in the online poker industry rolls on....
Israeli online poker and gambling entrepreneur and marketing expert Noam Lanir has sold his remaining shares in Empire Online to Party Gaming for US 40 million, the Y-news site reports this wednesday morning.
A year and a half after the company listed on the London Stock Exchange, the indications are that Lanir is heading out of the online gambling business. He has revealed that he will use the revenues from the sale of Empire, which total USD 300 million, to invest in real estate.
The deal with PartyGaming, the world's largest operator of gambling Web sites, is expected to be finalised by the end of the week.
Some (Israeli) experts interpreted the move as a signal that the two remaining Israeli online gambling companies traded on the London Stock Exchange, 888.com and Playtech, may be making similar moves following the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act which bans US financial transactions to online gambling sites.
Empire was worth US $928 million when first traded in London, but its shares fell significantly in recent months. The company has an estimated value of US $244 million today after its shares fell by 80 percent.
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