Bwin.party has celebrated their stocks rising for the first time in months by announcing that the process to sell the Ongame poker network is underway. Identified as a “surplus asset” by a bwin spokesperson back in the pre-merger days of February, it now looks like the network will go to the highest bidder. We originally revealed in our analysis of the merger documents that the network would be sold off.
Today’s announcement was part of the Pwin’s Annual General Meeting, a statement reading, “One area of our stated strategy was to recycle surplus assets,” revealing that, “We expect that any sale will be completed by the end of the year.” A spokesperson also confirmed to eGaming Review that “We have received interest from several parties.”
Last night’s Evening Standard carried the quotes “They all seem to be jumping into bed with one another,” when describing the gambling industry. Apparently, the trader wasn’t talking about an industry night out down at London’s Torture Garden. It comes as whispers suggested a deal between Sportingbet and Ladbrokes was very close. Those familiar with the market predicted that a deal could be done as early as the weekend. The two will have to first meet in the middle regarding the price that the Lads should be paying for each Sportingbet share. The Lads reckon 75p; Sportingbet 90p. The idle chitchat sent Sportingbet shares up 4p to 54p as Ladbrokes looked to get their bedfellow after messing around for too long with 888 earlier this year.
