Vienna/London, 29 July 2010 – Today, Thursday, bwin and PartyGaming have an-nounced the planned merger of these two companies. The fusion of these two pio-neers of online entertainment will be a “merger of equals”, and will create easily the world’s largest publicly listed online gaming company. “We have made history today, and will revolutionize the world of online entertainment as a result of this move,” explains Norbert Teufelberger, bwin Co-CEO. “This marriage with PartyGaming will be the next milestone in the successful history of bwin.”
“These two companies are a perfect match. Not only shall we have the first full-house for sports betting, poker, casino and games, together we shall be Number One with respect to product portfolio, technology, development, marketing and customers,” underscores bwin Co-CEO Manfred Bodner.
“The timing of this merger is optimal, as the industry is currently going through a phase of consolidation, and size does indeed matter,” according to Teufelberger. Europe and the USA are well on the way to regulation. “One can achieve more as the market and technology leader, thus assuring our future,” added Teufelberger.
55 million Euros in synergies
The merger is expected to generate synergies totalling 55 million Euros. However, these will not only be cost synergies: on the contrary, the merger will result in syner-gies of opportunity, marketing and revenue.
Headquarters to be established in Gibraltar
bwin shareholders will receive 51.6 per cent, and PartyGaming shareholders 48.4 per cent of the new company. The company’s headquarters will be established in Gibraltar. bwin’s business locations in Vienna and Stockholm are not under discussion. The new company will be listed on the London Stock Exchange, and will probably be included in the FTSE 100 index.
International bwin brand to be retained
The two successful bwin and PartyGaming brands will be retained. The new company will be headed by the two Co-CEOs Norbert Teufelberger and Jim Ryan. Norbert Teu-felberger was previously Co-CEO with bwin, Jim Ryan CEO with PartyGaming. bwin Co-CEO Manfred Bodner will be moving to the Supervisory Board of the new company, and will be responsible for brand integration and strategic sales topics.
About bwin
The bwin Group has over 20 million registered customers in more than 25 core markets. On a number of different platforms, the Group offers sports betting, poker, casino games, soft and skill games, as well as audio and video streams of top sporting events such as the German Soccer League. The holding company bwin Interactive Entertainment AG is listed in the ATX on the Vienna Stock Exchange (ID code BWIN, Reuters ID code BWIN.VI), and as the parent company provides various services such as software development, marketing, communications, human resources and finance for its subsidiaries and associated companies. The operational business of the bwin Group is carried out by subsidiaries and associated companies on the basis of licences (e.g. Germany, Italy and Gibraltar). Full details about the Company can be found on its investor relations website at www.bwin.org.
