Party Poker in Empire Takeover

From Bloomberg this morning... Looks like it was their plan all along...


-----------------------

PartyGaming Approaches Empire Online About a Takeover
By Paul Jarvis


Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- PartyGaming Plc, the world's largest
online poker operator, said it may buy Empire Online Ltd. to
gain a greater share of the growing Internet gambling market.
The takeover approach is subject to ``a number of material
pre-conditions,'' including an examination of Empire's accounts
and the outlook for its business, Gibraltar-based PartyGaming
said today in a Regulatory News Service statement.
PartyGaming is moving to expand with an acquisition after
saying in September it expected growth in the online-gaming market
to slow. That announcement triggered a 33 percent plunge by the
company's stock on Sept. 6 and sparked concern about the industry's
outlook after investors snapped up shares of PartyGaming and rivals
in initial public offerings earlier this year.
Shares of Empire Online rose 8.5 pence, or 7.4 percent, to
124 pence, the day's peak, at 8:06 a.m. in London. The gain
boosted the company's market value to 364.5 million pounds ($647 million). Investors paid 175 pence each for the shares in June's
IPO. The company in September ended talks on a possible takeover
by Sportingbet Plc.
PartyGaming stock advanced 2.25 pence, or 2.4 percent, to
95.25 pence. The shares were sold for 116 pence each when the
company became publicly traded.


----------------------------------

[_And1_]

[ QUOTE ]
Potential Party offer for Empire much lower than rumoured

Industry commentators were quick to play down speculation regarding how much PartyGaming might be willing to put on the table should it go ahead with a takeover bid for Empire Online.

After it was announced that PartyGaming had made a preliminary approach, press reports this morning suggested that PartyGaming, the world’s largest online poker room, could offer up to £400m for Empire.

By acquiring Empire, PartyGaming would be buying players, affiliates and marketing expertise. “How much PartyGaming is willing to pay for those depends on how it views Empire’s prospects in the near future and beyond”, said the commentator. He added that PartyGaming “doesn’t need to buy Empire Poker at the moment”, saying it can afford to wait until the price has come down to a level it is happy with.


[/ QUOTE ]
and so on .. full story at egaming review...