Subgreement -- Playtech has signed an intellectual property sublicense agreement with Guardian Gaming Limited (GG) and Shuffle Master (SM), allowing Playtech to offer certain SM Internet games. The agreement also sees Playtech supply software solutions for the GG-operated SM online casino.
Monopolist's Turnover Lags -- WestLotto, one of Germany's largest state lotteries, saw its market share reduced by 2 percent to 1.77 billion euros ($2.37 billion) in 2006. According to German national daily Die Welt, the operator's Oddset sports-betting service saw turnover fall 20 percent to 84.2 million euros ($112.8 million) over the full-year period. The company said advertising restrictions in the country, as well as competition from non-domestic, private operators, significantly contributed to the loss.
Latin-America Focused -- In a move to strengthen its presence in Latin America, Madrid-based gaming company Codere will acquire a 49 percent stake in Mexican leisure and entertainment group Corporacion Interamericana de Entretenimiento (CIE), pending approval from the competition authorities. Expansion reported Friday that the Martinez-Sempedro family, which holds a 90 percent stake in Codere, is seeking a financial partner or to become a listed company. The news source said the company has been valued at 2 billion euros ($2.67 billion), and has received interest from private-equity firms Apax, Advent and Carlyle.
De Terra -- Expansion also reports that Recreativos Franco, the Spanish gaming machine company, has announced an agreement with bwin to operate sports-betting outlets in Spain under the W1nners brand.
Launched -- Pax Poker has launched on the Microgaming network.
Buy Party -- Bloomberg reports that Deutsche Bank AG has raised its recommendation on PartyGaming shares to "buy" from "hold." "Having stabilized the business after pulling out of the United States, PartyGaming has plenty of strategic initiatives in progress to deliver growth in 2007 and beyond," the bank wrote in a research note.
The Bizarre Battleground -- The Guardian on Friday carried a report on European football-shirt sponsorship, commenting that the phenomenon has "emerged as the bizarre battleground for an increasingly bitter fight between offshore Internet gambling groups and a handful of continental regulators, determined to outlaw unlicensed online betting on their turf." The paper gave special attention to bwin's deal with Real Madrid (announced last week), calling it "commercially nonsensical." The move, it said, was a calculated one to demonstrate that bwin will not be deterred from promoting its Web sites despite the very-public arrest of company co-founders Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger.
Say It Loud -- The Financial Times says that this week the deadline arrives for World Trade Organization (WTO) members to request compensation from the United States if they believe the country's refusal to revise its position on I-gaming--in its current manifestation, declared illegal by the WTO--will hurt online gambling businesses.
Stock Watch -- On the LSE, CryptoLogic was down 12p to 1,256, PartyGaming is up 1p to 40 and Ladbrokes is down 15.25p to 444.50.