Hilton's Hanging On... For Now
It seems like it's been eons since Hilton Group PLC (HG.L) came out with intensions of spinning off its Ladbrokes gaming division, and the end is apparently nowhere in sight. Hilton announced last week that it will not demerge or spin off the unit until they can get a better sense of its value and advised that Ladbrokes' recent venture into Internet gambling is playing a huge role in the unpredictability. The company says it could take up to three years to properly value the unit. Meanwhile, a downgrading by Lehman Brothers is being blamed for a 9p drop in the company's stock Tuesday.
SEC Approves Poker.com
Poker.com, Inc. (PKER) announced Friday that it has been approved by the SEC as a fully reporting company and has met all the requirements to resume trading back on the NASD OTC Bulletin Board. The company spent the last three months submitting and amending its formal filing documents to the SEC in the pursuit of attaining a fully reporting status.
Are IPOs Still a Hot Ticket?
It's been clear for quite a while that the IPO madness of late would have to stop. Hoover's Online's quarterly wrap-up of IPO activity on Hoover's IPO Central indicates that investing in floats has at least curtailed for the moment. The publication reports that the average first-day gains for companies going public in Q2 2000 was 35 percent, compared to 95 percent in the first quarter. Additionally, around 40 percent of the companies to go public in 2000 in the high-tech sector are trading below their original offer price.
IG Group Prices Its Float
British spread betting company IG Group plc last week priced its initial share offer with the company valued at about £125 million The company says the placement had raised a net £1.15 million at 240 pence per share. Shares are expected to list July 19.
GoCorp Tries to Climb the Mountain
Launching the second online casino to ever go live in Australia a few weeks back didn't exactly put Gocorp Limited's (GOC.AX) stock on a hot plate, but the company's announcement of an excursion into the wireless betting biz did. Shares jumped from 16 cents to over 23 cents Friday when the company announced the signing of a deal with Ericsson AB's Australian subsidiary to jointly develop gaming and entertainment for Ericsson's Web On AIR wireless application platform. That's great news for Gocorp and its investors, but the recent jump still leaves shares far below its 50 cent float price on June 6.
A Stock to Watch?
The Times reported today that a recovery in betting margins could improve the full year profits of U.K. gaming group Stanley Leisure. Charterhouse Securities leisure analyst Roy Owens expects a 28 percent rise in full- year profits from £23.5m to £30m.