Rumor of the day: Market chatter across CNN and the financial wires suggests Sportingbet could be the target of a 70p per share takeover approach as early as next week. Bwin is thought to be a likely candidate after launching a bid approach for Sportingbet last March. Sportingbet and Bwin could not be reached for comment.
Following Thursday's news regarding an I-poker study bill in California, IGN spoke this morning with the bill's sponsor, the Poker Players of America. Look for more later today.
After PEIC Acquisition dropped out of the race for Parlay Entertainment Wednesday, the I-bingo software supplier said today that a new and anonymous suitor had expressed interest in the possibility of proposing a bid.
AsianLogic has partnered with Fortuna Bid Holdings BVI to launch two Asia-facing online poker rooms. The first -- called Dirty Stack Poker -- will be operated via AsianLogic's ESL subsidiary and will debut in April. A second poker room will follow shortly thereafter, it said. Both poker rooms will operate on Playtech software.
Mark Reed, analyst at Landsbanki, told Financial Times the following regarding Ralph Topping's appointment at William Hill: "Whilst not wanting to pre-empt or prejudge Ralph, it is hardly impressive that the process has taken so long. The internal appointment does not give us confidence that William Hill is looking aggressively at new markets, new technologies and broadening the investor base."
Net Entertainment has agreed to supply Central- and Eastern-Europe facing Bet-at-Home.com with its CasinoModule software platform.
Centrebet has posted profits of A$5.9 million for the first half, and has projected full-year profits of between A$13 million to A$13.6 million.
Swedish daily Aftonbladet -- a vocal critic of the Swedish gaming monopolies -- has partnered with Svenska Spel in an I-bingo affiliate deal.
Brokerage Citigroup said this morning in a note to clients that while billionaire Joe Lewis has built a 7 percent stake in Ladbrokes, the fact that Lewis has similar-sized investments in a number entities means he is unlikely to make a bid in the near-term.
Scottish daily The Press and Journal reports that smaller amusement arcades -- some independently owned -- across the United Kingdom are losing business as the country's remote gambling industry grows.
On the London Stock Exchange today, Sportingbet was up 1.50p (3.6 percent) to 43.00, Ladbrokes was down 10.50p (3.3 percent) to 307.50 and Rank was up 1.25p (1.3 percent) 100.00.
Chris Krafcik is the editor of IGamingNews. He lives in St. Louis, Mo.