Morning Brief: Acquiring and Diversifying

With your morning coffee or afternoon tea:

Inspired Gaming Group, the server-based gaming specialist, will enter the United States market by way of a deal with IceSkill, an operator of interactive touch-screen entertainment machines. IceSkill, a Florida company, will roll out 1,000 skill-with-prize terminals in America by yearend 2008.

IGN's Take: Inspired, we thought, would be a strong bet for Playtech Ltd., whose Estonian server-based subsidiary, Videobet, is still in its fledgling stages. In conversations with analysts, we understand Playtech is likely to use an unknown portion of its circa $320 million war chest to acquire its affiliate marketing business. Financial sources have told us this business may be worth between $75 million and $80 million. An acquisition of this magnitude, therefore, would fall within the range of the Tribeca Tables deal in November 2006.

Starting smaller, however, Playtech announced this morning its $1.75 million acquisition of MixTV, a subsidiary of Win Gaming Media Inc. in Nevada. The acquisition provides Playtech with technology to enhance its live-dealer Internet offering with a mass-participation, live-TV product.