Party's Been Busy
U.K. gaming group PartyGaming on Friday agreed to purchase certain online gaming assets of rivals Empire Online (EOL) and Intercontinental Online Gaming (IOG) for total consideration of $66.3 million in new shares. The group said that it would acquire EOL's NoblePoker.com, and Clubdicecasino.com and IOG's Fair Poker, Magic Box Casino and Miss Bingo sites, forecasting a combined year-end profit of $8.5 million ($6 million from EOL and $2.5 million from IOG) in 2007 from the acquisitions.
PartyGaming is funding the acquisitions by issuing 115,193,842 new shares worth approximately $72 million at its current price. Under the terms of the agreement 83,325,934 shares will go to EOL and 31,867,908 will go to IOG.
EOL, founded by Israeli entrepreneur Noam Lanir, will retain about $40 million, which will be combined with its existing cash balance of $250 million to establish a fund to "invest opportunistically in both private and public businesses and across the small, mid and large-cap range of companies," according to a prepared statement. The company is reportedly planning to invest in equities, bonds, derivatives and real estate. Lanir will continue to run EOL, despite rumors to the contrary.
Harrah's Agrees to Buyout
Harrah's Entertainment Inc. on Dec. 18 agreed to a $90 per share buyout offer from private equity duo Apollo Management Group and Texas Pacific Group, said an anonymous spokesperson with knowledge of the negotiations. The spokesperson said the agreement was made late last week, but lawyers for both sides have been working out the details. An official announcement could be made as early as Tuesday, said the spokesperson. The deal values Harrah's at $16.7 billion and represents a 36 percent premium over Harrah's share price on Sept. 29, the last trading day before Apollo first proposed a buyout Oct. 2. Apollo and Texas Pacific also will assume $10.7 billion in debt.
365 Media Buyout under Consideration
British broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting (Sky) on Dec. 15 made an offer to buy online sports content and gaming company 365 Media Group Plc for £96 million. The offer is 68 pence in cash for each 365 Media share at approximately £96 million, and the fully diluted share capital of 365 Media at approximately £103 million. The offer was based on 6 percent premium to the 365 Media's closing price on Dec. 14, the last dealing day before the offer was made. The U.K. Office of Fair Trading is now considering the merger.
Betbull in the Black
Betbull - the European Betting Exchange Plc (BETB.VI) announced on Dec. 22, 2006 that it raised 4.2 million euro through a private placement of 1,050,000 new ordinary shares at 4.0 euro per share. New investors from Switzerland have subscribed for 1 million shares with the additional 50,000 shares having been subscribed for by the management of Betbull.
Reporting
U.K. online gaming firm Sportingbet has announced a first quarter loss of £241 million, largely due to a one-time £252 million exceptional charge for halting its U.S. operations after the United States passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Company executives have said that its current trading was in line with market expectations and announced an increase in gross profit from continuing operations of 48 percent, to £31.7 million, in the three months to October. The company said that gross profit in Europe had risen 55 percent following the U.S. ben, while its Australian profits increased by 33 percent, leading to Sportingbet reporting that it had £52 million on its balance sheet. Chief Executive Andy McIver confirmed that Sportingbet would be looking at merger and acquisition opportunities.