bwin shares rise after Italy move

[The Buzz]

Shares in online betting operator bwin rose as much as 7 percent after the company said it's in the final stages of talks to purchase Italian poker operator Gioco Digitale.

A gaming analyst told Reuters that he expects this purchase to greatly benefit bwin.

From Reuters:

The company declined to disclose terms under discussion. Daniel Stewart & Company analyst James Hollins said he estimated the purchase price to be around 100 million euros ($143 million), and expected the deal to boost bwin's earnings.

'It would be a very good deal,' Hollins said. 'Even without cost and revenue synergies we would expect it to be earnings enhancing by more than 10 percent.'

[JonOfFinsbury]

...I'm curious to see how theshare price will perform after the ECJ backed the Portugese monopoly against them today: http://www.egrmagazine.com/news/indu...nst-bwin.thtml

I can't think that losing a long and expensive battle with regulators will do the share price much good. I suppose they're hoping that they can pull it off when the case goes back to Portugal!

Responses to the judgement fom Bwin:
http://www.egrmagazine.com/news/indu...internet.thtml

and the European Gaming and Betting Association: http://www.egrmagazine.com/news/indu...poly-law.thtml

for anyone interested in what they have to say.

[JonOfFinsbury]

Hi guys,

Two stories related to the judgement against Bwin at the European Court of Justice came out of the CEO panel at last week's EIG that I thought you might be interested in.

In the first, 888 and PartyGaming responded to the news with the view that B2B is a vital hedge against protectionism, while the panel also saw most top egaming CEOs agree that the shape of new law is the number one issue facing the industry.

Enjoy!


Jon

[smathe77]

Shares in online betting operator bwin rose as much as 7 percent after the company said it's in the final stages of talks to purchase Italian poker operator Gioco Digitale.

A gaming analyst told Reuters that he expects this purchase to greatly benefit bwin.

From Reuters:

Hehe, Bwin and their world-dominating ways...