Shares in PartyGaming rose 10 percent Friday on speculation that the company has settled with the United States Department of Justice.
Due to disparity between time zones, Interactive Gaming News could not reach John Shepherd, the company's director of corporate communications, for comment.
However, Mr. Shepherd declined comment to Bloomberg and Reuters.
PartyGaming began negotiations with the Justice Department in June 2007. Mitchell A. Garber, the former chief executive, has said repeatedly that the company hopes to conclude talks by the end of the 2008 calendar year.
"It would be surprising to me, if we came to an acceptable, reasonable deal with the DoJ, if the stock did not react favorably to the fact that the company has been so responsible in so many jurisdictions, including the United States, and that it put the United States legacy issue behind it," said Mr. Garber, speaking during the company's fourth-quarter conference call with analysts and investors in January.
A settlement with the Justice Department would eliminate the possibility of retrospective prosecution against the company over its activities in the United States prior to the enactment of prohibitive legislation in October 2006.
"I'm led to believe that they may have come to an agreement in the U.S.," an unnamed London trader told Reuters. "It means they would have no more outstanding issues with the authorities which would put them in the position where they would be bid for."
PartyGaming, listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, rose 26.25 pence to 286.50 pence.
Following Thursday's news from Sportingbet, shares rose 2.75 pence, or 7.64 percent, to 38.75 pence. 888 Holdings, meanwhile, rose 5 pence, or 3.52 percent, to 147 pence.
Andrew P. Lee, an analyst with PartyGaming's broker, Dresdner Kleinwort, declined comment.
Chris Krafcik is the editor of IGamingNews. He lives in St. Louis, Mo.