I-Gaming Investors Corner (Mar 12-16)

The Stock Repurchase Plan
GTECH (GTK) has agreed to repurchase 5 million of its shares for approximately $130 million from Tiger Management, one of the company's largest shareholders. This equates to $26 per share. The negotiated transaction with Tiger Management is beyond the $100 million open market share repurchase plan authorized by the GTECH Board of Directors in June 2000, of which $85 million remains available. The transaction will be financed with cash on hand as well as borrowings under GTECH's $400 million revolving credit facility. "The company has consistently maintained that GTECH stock is undervalued at current trading levels," said GTECH CEO Howard S. Cohen. "The transaction we have agreed to with Tiger Management, we believe, is an excellent and highly disciplined use of shareholder capital. We expect the transaction to be immediately accretive to earnings per share." The news revived GTECH's share value on Thursday, which had fallen below the $26 per share price. GTECH's stock has swung widely in value over the past 52 weeks, ranging from $15.3750 to $28.8800.

Network Gaming International Corp. (NGQ.V) intends to make a normal course issuer bid to acquire as many as 2 million shares of its stock, representing 10 percent of the public float. The bid will last no longer than one year and purchases will be made at prices no higher than the last independent trade of a board lot, in accordance with policies established by the Canadian Venture Exchange.

Software developer Cryptologic Inc. (CRYP) is looking to buy up to 1 million outstanding common shares by way of a dutch auction process, the company announced. The company will purchase shares at the highest price specified by shareholders to ensure that all 1 million shares are purchased. The share prices will have a maximum price of CDN$19 each and a minimum price of $17 per share. The offer will expire at 5 p.m. April 9 unless withdrawn or extended. "We feel that Cryptologic's shares are an attractive investment, given the company's high quality earnings, positive cash flow and strong balance sheet," commented company President/CEO Jean Noelting. "The offer makes good use of our cash reserves, helps enhance shareholder value and maintains sufficient working capital for Cryptologic to take advantage of growth opportunities including acquisitions."

Crypto, DCEG Make Deal
In a separate deal Cryptologic purchased more than 5 percent of outstanding shares in dot com Entertainment Group (DCEG) for investment purposes. As a result, CRYP may have its representatives meet with DCEG's management, directors or shareholders on occasion, and may also purchase more of the company's shares dependant upon a number of factors. DCEG shares are traded over the counter, and have ranged in value during the past 52 weeks from 11/32 to 2-5/16.

Youbet.com Announces Shareholder Conference Call, More
Youbet.com's (UBET) fourth quarter and year end financial reports are slated for release on March 28, the company announced. Following the release, interested parties can participate in a simultaneous webcast and conference call to discuss the results and outlook for Youbet during the upcoming year. To participate, visitors need to go to vcall.com at least 15 minutes prior to the call, scheduled 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time on March 28.

BETandWIN.com Announces Winning Returns
It's been a good year for BETandWIN.com Interactive Entertainment (BWIN), which saw its betting turnover increasing fivefold during fourth quarter 2000 from EUR 1.54 million in 1999 to EUR 7.62 million for same period 2000. Net winnings grew to EUR 938,000, an increase of 383 percent compared to the same period the previous year.

In addition, BETandWIN.com reported that EBITDA and EBIT for the fourth quarter were EUR -2.76 million and EUR -3.21 million respectively. Profit before tax totaled EUR 3.05 million and the consolidated result was EUR 2.03 million. In the last quarter of 1999, EBITDA, EBIT and the consolidated result were EUR 0.50, EUR 0.71 and EUR 0.41 respectively.

In the year 2000 BETandWIN.com increased its betting turnover by 222 per cent to EUR 17.30 million. This compares to EUR 5.38 million for the same period the previous year. Net winnings were up 232 per cent, reaching a level of EUR 2.07 million (margin 12 percent) compared to EUR 625,000 (margin 11.62 percent) for the previous year.

The company broke down its turnover by language and sport, showing:

Turnover by language
German -70 percent
English -16 percent
Italian - 9 percent
Spanish - 5 percent

Turnover by sport
Soccer - 56 percent
Tennis - 22 percent
American sports - 15 percent
Motor sports - 2 percent
Others - 4 percent

BETandWIN also released the following figures: