Boss Lands Another Heavyweight

Boss Media of Sweden has signed a contract to deliver an Internet casino to Gala Group Ltd., the United Kingdom's leading bingo and casino company. Under the contract, Boss will supply Gala with an online casino application, enabling the group to increase its interactive gaming capabilities.

"Gala is a leader in the bingo and leisure industry, and this contract is an important step for Boss into this market," Peter Bertilsson, CEO and president of Boss Media, explained. He also pointed out that Gala "has a big footprint in England."

The deal could provide a shot in the arm for Boss Media, which is still on the rebound from plummeting stock prices and scant revenues, which resulted in the liquidation of casinos and assets.

"Gala Group is our largest customer so far, they are very large in the U.K. and I believe [the partnership] will be very good for the future of Boss Media," Bertilsson added.

Nigel Willis, Gala's director of interactive gaming was equally enthusiastic about the relationship. "The deal with Boss adds another exciting facet to our interactive gaming strategy," Willis said. "The Boss software is arguably the best available on the Internet today, and we look forward to working with Boss to make it even better."

Gala operates 166 bingo clubs and 28 casinos in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar and has over 5 million members, plus 1million who play online at www.jamba.co.uk, a skill-games site expected to go live with real-money bingo this summer. The company is the largest multi-site machine operator in Europe. It's also the largest licensed bingo business and one of the four largest casino businesses in the country. Credit Suisse First Boston Private Equity (CSFB) is Gala's majority shareholder. In December 2000, the company acquired Ladbroke Casinos, one of England's largest casino groups. The properties were temporarily closed and re-launched as Gala Casinos in October 2001.

Gala is one of several top-shelf operators coveted by Boss media in the past year. Most recently, the company signed a deal with the online sports betting powerhouse Sportingbet.com. The company also has software-licensing agreements with DrHo.com, an Internet casino carrying the brand of Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho and Sun Online, the Internet arm of land-based casino operator Sun International.

Bertilsson said to expect Gala to launch a Boss-powered Internet casino in July.