This one hit the markets running today. Despite negative publicity it was well supported so I jumped in for a small holding--anyone else joining in?? I am hoping for a good run up before the shorters get going.

*PARTYGAMING, BWIN AGREE TO MERGE*

About as good as buying Yell

StockMarketWire.com
Online gaming group PartyGaming said group revenue was up 9% to 85.3m in the quarter to end-September (2009: 78.3m), with growth in all products except poker.

Casino revenue was up 2% to 34.9m (2009: 34.2m), driven by content and jackpot improvements on PartyCasino.

Poker revenue was down 5% to 29.6m (2009: 31.3m) with continued pressure from US-facing sites partially mitigated by growth in newly regulated markets.

Bingo revenue was up 36% to 13.1m (2009: 9.6m) driven by the acquisition of Cashcade.

Sports Betting revenue rose 86% to 5.4m (2009: 2.9m) on the back of both increased turnover and gross win margins.

PartyGaming said current trading was improving on the back of seasonality, in-line with expectations .

The group said the Bwin merger was proceeding as planned, with Simon Duffy confirmed as Chairman-elect of the merged company.

Jim Ryan, CEO, said: "Total revenue was up by 9% year-on-year with growth in all products except poker, despite the impact of having closed our French casino business at the end of June 2010. Excluding French casino, total revenue would have been up by 12% year-on-year, driven by casino growth in other markets, acquisitions and a strong performance in sports betting.

"We have been encouraged by the strong start from our nascent French poker network that went live on 1st July 2010. A strong performance by PartyPoker in France has been further boosted by the launch of PMU's poker business in France as well as services for AB Groupe and Aviation Club de France.

"I am also pleased to report that the proposed merger with bwin remains on track to complete at the end of Q1 2011, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals and I am delighted that Simon Duffy has agreed to become Chairman of the Enlarged Group on completion, as detailed in a separate press release issued today."

I like the look of prty (Partygaming) notice how its come off a double bottom at 210p and the macd line has crossed up through the trigger line with RSI at a reasonable level and volume getting heavier. SP also passed through resistance at 250p on its way to 280p first and beyond I reckon.

Intraday we look like we are about to have hit support and start again on the ladder up.

Its very interesting to see what Buys brokers have recently pencilled in for this going forward.

PartyGaming PLC

FORECASTS 2010 2011
Date Rec Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)
Panmure Gordon
01-12-10 BUY 92.30 19.00 103.00 21.30
Peel Hunt
30-11-10 BUY 71.98 15.24 81.85 16.95
Shore Capital
26-11-10 BUY 48.91 16.76 62.77 18.37
Evolution Securities Ltd
24-11-10 BUY 69.14 14.30 75.48 15.57
Numis Securities Ltd
17-11-10 BUY 82.94 18.65 94.13 20.51
Execution Noble
16-11-10 BUY 78.16 16.97 91.51 19.66
Collins Stewart
08-11-10 BUY 19.04 18.18
Daniel Stewart
28-06-10 BUY 73.24 19.09 88.95 21.30

2010 2011
Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)
Consensus 68.02 16.19 66.79 15.89
1 Month Change -4.92 -0.79 -16.75 -2.53
3 Month Change -7.19 -0.77 -20.29 -2.73


GROWTH
2009 (A) 2010 (E) 2011 (E)
Norm. EPS -13.52% 39.47% -1.86%
DPS % % %

INVESTMENT RATIOS
2009 (A) 2010 (E) 2011 (E)

EBITDA 77.93m 88.13m 109.40m
EBIT 51.64m 59.55m 65.48m
Dividend Yield % % %
Dividend Cover x x x
PER 21.71x 15.56x 15.86x
PEG -1.60f 0.39f -8.50f
Net Asset Value PS -11.52p 42.68p 51.21p

Good to put some SP targets to the broker buy recommendations:

Date Broker name New Price Old price target New price target Broker change

24-Nov-10 Evolution Securities Buy 238.50p - 303.00p New Coverage
12-Nov-10 Shore Capital Buy 213.10p - - Upgrade
12-Nov-10 Panmure Gordon Buy 213.10p - 302.00p Restart Coverage

Broker upgrade.


PartyGaming FTSE 250 Consumer, Cyclical

Buy 320 241.6 32.5% Collins Stewart

320p SP target 32.5% increase.

what a stinker!
sure hope you didn't marry money to mouth "sticky digit"

Yep agreed got out with a small gain cyners.

All about legislation in the US.

Party Gaming and Bwin will retain brand names after merger.

Party Gaming, which runs the reputed poker portal Party Poker, recently announced the final terms of its merger with Bwin, another gaming giant. The merger has been long anticipated by the poker industry who are waiting to see what inroad the newly merger enterprise will make. The merger is expected to be completed by the first quarter of the year 2011 and so far all those on board the two companies see nothing but opportunities for growth. This merger will create one of the worlds largest officially listed gaming businesses.

Norbert Teufelberger, the Co-CEO of Bwin appeared to be very optimistic about the merger and commented, The online gaming industry is going through a phase of consolidation, making market players size and geographic diversification more crucial than ever. Our products and target markets complement one another perfectly, and we can continue to expand our technology lead in all key product segments: sports betting, poker, casino, bingo, and games.

Both Bwin and Party Gaming have decided to keep their brand names, rather than opting for one of the two or going in for something totally new. The newly merged company will have a worldwide market and will be able to use the power of both its brands to push profits. The company will function under the brand name of bwin.party digital entertainment plc. In the merger the shares have not been evenly divided and it would appear that Bwin has the majority. Shareholders of Bwin will be happy to know that the shares have been split 51.7 percent (for Bwin) and 48.3 percent (for Party Gaming).

Jim Ryan, who is the current CEO of Party Gaming will team up with Teufelberger and head the newly merged enterprise. Ryan sees this as a great business opportunity for expansion. This is a transformational opportunity for both our companies to create the worlds largest listed online gaming business. With market-leading positions in poker, sports betting, casino, and games, the enlarged group will have a winning formula to exploit the growing online gaming market, supported by a strong balance sheet, significant cash flow generation, and a highly experienced management team, he said.

Despite retaining their brands, the management will be headed under one umbrella and the new company will function as one unit. The newly joined enterprise will operate out of Gibraltar and is now listed on the London Stock Exchange. However, since the company is so large, Bwin will still hold on to its offices in Austria.

At last after 3 weeks got my charting gear and problem sorted out. Right first up PRTY will we get a bounce on the chart from the recent weakness. Im hoping so and had a few earlier today, thats a fairly established resistance/support line so law of averages says after a while it will be broken.

You have jinxed PRTY, goldfinger.

another serious stinker, and prob one to short, not that is shall

You are now a serious shorter, cynic.

not short here unfortunately, but as i mentioned before, i have never liked this sector as have never understood why even a mutt-head would want to chance his arm against some serious professionals who frequent these places

190p now, any takers???

Yep looks that way hlyeo, its been on a rotten run lately.

Top stock pick for 2011 From Daniel Stewart.......

PartyGaming (LON:PRTY) Target price 295 pence (current price 192 pence)

The online gaming group is valued at 295 pence a share, giving more than 50 percent upside from the current share price. Analyst Michael Campbell reckons may struggle in the poker arena, where the likes of Full Tilt and Poker Stars are piling on the competitive pressure.

However he reckons this will be more than offset by the performance of Partys bingo and casino offering.

Campbell adds: Partys merger with BWIN results in the largest online gambling business across a number of product verticals. Its the largest European Poker business across Europe and occupies top spot in casino, whilst sharing the spoils with Betfair in the sports betting vertical, though Betfair's model is distinctly different to the Party-BWIN model.