Empire Online, a provider of marketing services for the online gambling industry, is set to be acquired by PartyGaming, one of the biggest online gambling companies in the world, in what is expected to be the first in a series of such deals in the industry, due to the recent U.S. ban on online gambling.
Noam Lanir, Empire's founder and chief executive, will sell his remaining shares in the company for about $40 million. The deal, which is expected to be finalized by the end of the week, will provide Lanir the opportunity, which he sought even before the crisis in the business, to retire from the gambling industry and concentrate on real estate business.
With the purchase of Empire Online, PartyGaming, gains Empire's marketing expertise. The company specializes in recruiting players via its "skin" websites and receiving a portion of revenues from its various gaming service partners.
The US Senate approved a bill which became law in October that made it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process transactions by U.S. residents.
Empire Online was worth $928 million when it first traded on the London Stock Exchange, but its shared fell significantly since the U.S. ban came into effect. Today the company's estimated value is $244 million, after its shares fell by 80 percent.
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