3rd Aug 2006 07:03
PartyGaming Plc03 August 2006 3 August 2006 PartyGaming Plc ("PartyGaming") Acquisition of Gamebookers PartyGaming, the world's leading online gaming company, announces today that ithas acquired the business and assets of Gamebookers, an online sports bettingbusiness, from Trident Gaming PLC ("Trident") for an estimated net cashconsideration of €102 million (after estimated working capital adjustments of€3.0 million). Of the net consideration, €81 million is payable on completion and €21 millionis payable in 18 months (less any potential claims under the acquisitionagreement). Established in 1999, Gamebookers provides online sports betting in 12 languagesand has more than 250,000 registered customers in 140 countries and 53,318active customers. It does not accept bets from customers based in the US. Thebusiness offers single, combination and live bets on a wide range ofinternational sporting events. In the 12 month period ended 31 December 2005,the business took over 25 million sports bets, equivalent to an average of 124bets per customer per month, with an average bet size of €7.1. The businessalso operates a small but growing online casino, and recently added a pokerroom. Gamebookers' sports betting activities currently operate under anAntiguan gaming license and the majority of the operations, risk management andcustomer services are run by a cost-effective in-house processing centre inBulgaria. In the year ended 31 December 2005, Gamebookers took wagers (net of bonuses) of€179.4 million, generated gross win of €10.1 million, and produced an EBITDA of€4.6 million. PartyGaming expects the business to generate an EBITDA of between€8.0 million and €9.0 million in the current year (before the benefits ofcross-selling), reflecting the operational improvements made following a changeof ownership in July 2005 and increased investment in marketing in the firsthalf of 2006. Gamebookers' active customer numbers have been growing stronglyand rose from 26,818 in the quarter ended 30 June 2005 to 53,318 in the quarterended 30 June 2006, with the number of bets placed per month also increasingstrongly over the same period. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing for PartyGaming in thecurrent financial year. The foregoing statement should not be interpreted as aprofit forecast or to mean that PartyGaming's future earnings per share willnecessarily be greater than or equal to its historical earnings per share. Commenting on the acquisition, Mitch Garber, Chief Executive Officer ofPartyGaming, said: "The acquisition of Gamebookers is an important step forward in diversifyingPartyGaming's business from both a product and geographic perspective.Gamebookers is a well-established and profitable operator with proven riskmanagement skills and scaleable proprietary software. We believe that sportsbetting will be a valuable addition to our integrated gaming platform, which weexpect to provide excellent cross-selling opportunities for our expanding baseof customers outside the US." Contacts PartyGaming Plc Martin Weigold, Group Finance Director +350 78700John Shepherd, Director of Corporate Communications +44 (0)20 7337 0100 Financial Dynamics +44 (0)20 7831 3113 Edward Bridges / Juliet Clarke Notes For Gamebookers, registered customers are customers who have registered theirpersonal details with Gamebookers and active customers are registered customerswho have placed a bet in a given quarter. About PartyGaming Plc Founded in 1997, PartyGaming Plc is the world's leading online gaming companyand owns and operates PartyPoker.com, the world's largest online poker room, aswell as EmpirePoker.com. Other online gaming activities include casino,principally through PartyCasino.com and StarluckCasino.com, online bingo throughPartyBingo.com and backgammon on PartyGammon.com. PartyGaming Plc is listed on The London Stock Exchange under the ticker: PRTY.In the year to 31 December 2005, the Group had revenues of $977.7m and generatedClean EBITDA of $583.7m and profit before tax of $324.9m. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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