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PartyGaming Plans Deal for FTSE Place

UNITED KINGDOM – As reported by the UK Times: "The world's biggest internet poker company will today announce the appointment of advisers to a possible flotation on the London Stock Exchange that could value the business at about £3 billion, The Times has learnt.

"It is understood that PartyGaming, the Gibraltar-based group that launched the PartyPoker website in 1997, will reveal that it has appointed Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Investec Securities to advise the company on its "strategic options".

"Despite the likelihood of a place in the FTSE 100, the big banks such as Merrill Lynch, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank declined the opportunity to be involved, eschewing fees of an estimated £20 million.

"…The company, which recently changed its name from iGlobalmedia, is understood to favour an initial public offering (IPO) some time this year, although its advisers will also consider alternative ways of taking the company forward, including raising debt or seeking a merger partner.

"…PartyGaming also has casino and bingo websites, although more than three-quarters of its business is derived from online poker, the fastest growing part of the gambling industry.

"PartyPoker accounts for more than 50 per cent of the global online poker market. Launched in 2001, it now claims that 12,000 people are playing its online games at any one time."

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