Party Gaming And Bwin Announce Merger - 07-30-10

July 30 - The largest share of 51.64% of the London Stock Exchange listed merged entity will be owned by Bwin while PartyGaming (operators of sites like Party Poker) will hold 48.36%. Bwin has a current market capitalisation of €1.4bn, and PartyGaming has a market cap of £1.1bn.

The two Chief Executives, Jim Ryan of PartyGaming, and Norbert Teufelberger of Bwin, will become joint chief executives of the merged company. Current Bwin co-chief executive Manfred Bodner will become a non-executive director on the board of the enlarged group.

According to Ryan: "This is a transformational opportunity for both our companies to create the world's largest listed online gaming business. With market-leading positions in poker, sports betting, casino and games (in particular bingo), the enlarged group will have a winning formula to exploit the growing online gaming market, supported by a strong balance sheet, significant cash flow generation and a highly experienced management team."

Teufelberger said: "This merger of equals makes great strategic, operational and financial sense. We will be in pole position to capitalise on the wealth of opportunities that will flow from the continued evolution and expansion of the global online gaming industry."

Speculation over a merger between the two companies has been going on for some time and Party Gaming confirmed the rumours in March, stating that the parties  had been in discussion.

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