Gibraltar-based PartyGaming, is looking to expand its current portfolio and
it is rumored that their rival, GigaMedia, is part of their expansion plan.
While shareholders are the ones that will actually have to agree to this merger
plan, it is said that talks have already taken place between GigaMedia and
PartyGaming.
Following not a very successful engagement in the United States last month,
when the company was ordered to pay $105 million to the United States Department
of Justice, PartyGaming is looking to move ahead and out of this down-period.
The upside of the agreement between the Department of Justice and PartyGaming,
was that if the company paid the fine, they would not be prosecuted for any of
the alleged violations of US online gambling laws.
PartyGaming is the popular provider of online casino and poker games and
platforms through their 'Party' brands of PartyPoker, PartyCasino, PartyBets,
PartyBingo and PartyGammon. PartyGaming currently needs to secure some funding
in order to facilitate any plans of expansion. Once they have secured these
funds, the deal with GigaMedia is likely to take place.
A spokesman for PartyGaming said that they have made it very clear that "the
industry would consolidate" and that they were constantly looking for good
investment opportunities when they came along. He refused to comment on the
rumored deal with GigaMedia.
Currently traded on the London Stock Exchange, PartyGaming closed this week
as the highest traded online gaming company. The company had hoped to do even
better following their settlement with the United States Department of Justice,
but this was not the case.
