October 31, 2006

Proving Misery Loves Company

Whats a poor online gambling site to do with the loss of so much US revenue? Why merger of course!

Two of the biggest victims of laws banning internet gambling in the United States were today said to be in talks regarding a £ 1.6bn merger.
Party Poker owner PartyGaming and 888 Holdings have reportedly held preliminary discussions about combining their pool of online players, which has been drastically reduced by the removal of the American market.

Shares in PartyGaming have slumped 70% and 888 Holdings by 24% in the weeks since a ban on American gaming was announced. PartyGaming, which until recently was listed in the FTSE 100 Index, generated around 75% of its annual revenues from the United States, while 888 had half its business in the country.

Experts are braced for a round of consolidation in the sector, particularly from big players looking at rivals with a strong European or Asian presence.

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