PartyGaming Expands with
Cashcade Acquisition
 July
20 - When
successful UK online bingo and casino firm Cashcade announced
weeks ago that it was up for sale,
many of the world's largest online gambling concerns quickly
took notice as they recognized how
large a foothold they could gain in the lucrative UK internet
bingo market
with the acquisition.
From the outset,
internet gambling powerhouse 888 Holdings threw its hat into the
Cashcade ring,
and many in the online gambling industry thought the firm, which
owns and operates top global gambling brands such as
Pacific Poker
and
Casino-on-Net,
would close the deal in no time. But they were wrong.
According to the rumour mill, as large and successful a company
as 888 is, it
could not raise Cashcade's whopping asking price of £100 million
(R1.3 billion).
Of course, this rumour was quickly quashed by 888 CEO, Gigi
Levy, who insisted that 888 pulled out of the deal because the
price was not right.
'We had bank financing for the acquisition,
we just didn't want to pay the price they were asking,'
he said. '888 is interested in Cashcade, but there are other
leading online gambling companies that are more interested in it
and are willing to pay more for it.'
Enter
PartyGaming,
another online gambling giant.
Owner and operator of
PartyPoker, one of the world's most popular and successful
online poker rooms,
PartyGaming recognised that with online bingo increasing in
popularity around the world,
acquiring Cashcade would be a very smart and strategic decision.
So out came its checkbook, and the deal was done.
Under the terms of the deal,
PartyGaming is expected to pay £75 million up front for the UK
gaming company,
and a further £25 million depending on Cashcade's performance in
2009/2010.
|
|
|
