Morning Brief: B-to-B Bout

For those that haven't followed the Playtech acquisition news closely, Chief Executive Mor Weizer indicated during yesterday's analyst and investor conference that the London company may be open to acquiring other of its affiliate businesses in an effort to offer a "full turnkey solution."

IGN's Take: We expect competition in the b-to-b sector to hot up in the near future as PartyGaming and 888, the Gibraltar operators, have thrown their hats into the ring. Financial sources close to the situation have suggested that 888 may have as many 30 b-to-b deals in the pipeline, and that PartyGaming, too, has been approached by a number of major potential licensees.

In related Playtech news, the company yesterday announced the identity of its second Italian poker licensee: Sisal S.p.A., a land-based betting operator. Currently, Sisal is running a play-for-free site.

Jaxx A.G., the Germany-based online gambling operator, has issued a bond that will be divided into 161,830 debentures worth 26 euros apiece and convertible into 10 ordinary shares. It intends to use anticipated gross proceeds of up to 4.2 million euros to "finance its further growth and to increase its independence from the German lottery market."

IGN's Take: This is not the first time Jaxx -- which traded formerly as Fluxx A.G. -- has issued such a bond as around this time last year it did the same. Unibet, the Sweden-based betting operator, last year raised capital in the bond market to finance its £54 million acquisition of Maria Holdings Ltd. IGN has requested comment from Jaxx management on its potential acquisition strategy. Stay tuned for more.