18th Jul 2005 09:02
Empire Online Limited18 July 2005 18 July 2005 Empire Online Strengthens M&A Capability Empire Online, a leading provider of marketing services to the online gamingindustry, has appointed Andrew Burnett, a leading leisure and gaming analyst andlatterly corporate financier as a consultant to lead its M&A drive. AndrewBurnett, was a member of the team at Numis Securities which advised EmpireOnline during its recent £512 million IPO in London. He will also play anactive role in Investor Relations advice and support. Noam Lanir, CEO of Empire Online, said: "Following our successful IPO we arerapidly rolling out our operations throughout Europe and will also considermaking strategic acquisitions. We intend to play a leading role in theanticipated consolidation and we are looking to Andrew Burnett to spearhead thisfor us, working closely with our existing financial advisers, Numis." Andrew Burnett said: "The gaming sector is set for a period of tremendous growthand consolidation over the medium term. I look forward to being a part of theEmpire Online team as they lead the market consolidation in the online gamingindustry." For further information: Empire Online Limited +357 (2) 5 847 700Noam Lanir, Chief Executive OfficerYossi Pereg, Chief Financial Officer Citigate Dewe Rogerson +44 (0) 20 7638 9571Simon RigbySarah Gestetner Notes to Editors Empire Online Empire Online is a leading provider of marketing services to the online gamingindustry. Through online and offline advertising and other marketing techniques,the Group directs new players to online poker and online casino websitesoperated by third party gaming operators, principally empirepoker.com (a whitelabel website related to PartyPoker.com, one of the largest online poker rooms)and Casino-On-Net (part of 888.com, one of the most established online casinowebsites). The Company also has arrangements with a subsidiary of PartyGaming tomarket other online gaming websites, including AceClub.com andstarluckcasino.com. The Group's objective is to take advantage of the expected growth of the onlinegaming market by generating greater revenues in a cost-efficient manner throughthe acquisition of new players and by increasing the activity levels of theGroup's existing players. The Company aims to pay particular attention toexpanding its player base in certain European countries in the medium term, withthe intention of raising its profile and reducing the Group's reliance on theNorth American market. Empire Online will also continue to pursue its existingstrategies in relation to its primary markets of the United States and Canada tomaintain its strong position in these markets. Andrew Burnett Andrew began his City career in 1990 and has worked as a leisure analyst atCharterhouse, ABN AMRO, Merrill Lynch and at Numis as both an analyst andlatterly in corporate finance. At Numis he was a key member of the team on thesuccessful IPOs of gaming companies FireOne and Empire Online. His most significant piece of research was 'Bet The World', a 200-page book onvaluing and appraising online gaming companies. It was published by MerrillLynch in 2000 and is considered by many as the definitive work on the onlinegaming industry. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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