Outstanding Acquisition -- Fun Technologies has received a proposal from majority shareholder Liberty Media to purchase (by cash) any and all outstanding common Fun shares at 1.635 pence ($3.50) per share. Fun has established an independent committee to review the offer, and will make its recommendation to shareholders in due course.
Stan James Wants Skill -- GameAccount has agreed to supply its skill-games software to online sportsbook operator Stan James. "Skill games broaden the demographic appeal of our online sportsbook offering, particularly relevant for Southern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries where backgammon is a cultural phenomenon," said Russell Young, head of I-gaming for Stan James.
Results Now Public -- The results of Harvard's empirical Internet sports betting study have been made public. Articles are password-protected, the Web site says, so interested readers must e-mail the Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance (DACHA), for a copy of the study. Richard LaBrie, associate director for research and data analysis at the DACHA, said the study is the first public study to measure actual online gambling behavior. Most research has been "junk science" (surveys, self-reporting), he said, which doesn't paint an accurate picture. The study was conducted by the Harvard Medical School in partnership with bwin.
Speaking of Surveys . . . -- A PricewaterhouseCoopers report released Thursday suggests global gaming revenue will hit $144 billion in 2011, after growing at an annually compounded rate of 7.2 percent a year. Gambling revenue is expected to rise from $101.6 billion in 2006, driven by new casinos and upgrades of existing casinos in all regions of the world, the report said. The UIGEA, enacted October 2006, is also expected to have an adverse affect on U.K.-based I-gaming operators, while a mix of sports-betting restrictions and new licenses will hurt sports betting in Europe overall, it said.
bwin to Seek Restitution from Germany? -- bwin is considering seeking hundreds of millions of euros in compensation from several German federal states, claiming that its business and reputation have been severely damaged by their measures blocking the company's online gaming and marketing activities. bwin co-CEO Norbert Teufelberger told Germany's Stuttgart Zeitung that he is confident that the states' efforts to protect their monopolies over games of chance would be ruled illegal by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and Germany's Federal Constitutional Court. Teufelberger also told the paper that bwin supports a political solution that would see states maintaining a full monopoly over the lottery sector, and regulated I-gaming operators granted rights to offer sports betting, casino games and poker in exchange for a 15 percent tax on gross winnings.
Takeover Talk is Back -- On Thursday Ladbrokes takeover rumors resurfaced, with the Times reporting the possibility of a £3.2 million ($6.4 million) bid for the bookmaker from an unknown private equity entity. Thursday's tale involved a 500 pence per share offer arriving as early as next week. Despite the rumor, shares were down 5.75p to 433.50 as sources for the paper said that Ladbrokes had nothing to disclose.
Stock Watch -- On the LSE, Ladbrokes was up 0.25p to 433.75, PartyGaming was down 0.75p to 37.75 and Playtech was down 0.75p to 381.50.