Any ideas why BPTY has opened some 35% up. Not complaining as I took the plunge a couple of days. Presumably there has been some press comment somewhere?

Probably the impact of the FBI closing down Party Gaming. One way to knock out the competition!

feb 3rd should do the trick. new jersey go ahead signing,& possible hike in divi coming, as b win seems to be awash with cash.

Canaccord note today:
"The US state of New Jersey last night positioned itself to become the first sizeable US state to legalise online poker and casino games. The state Governor vetoed an Online Gaming bill for the second time, but stated that he would approve it if a number of revisions were made – most significantly, introducing a 10-year sunset period after which it could be revoked, and pushing up both the rate of tax (from 10% to 15%) and cost of the licenses. New Jersey will become the third US state to legalise online gaming (Nevada and Delaware have passed bill), but first major state (with a population of nine million) and first to include Poker and Casino games, and potentially Sports.
This is a significant milestone in the long-awaited re-opening of the US online gaming market. It will take a long time before any operators generate any material revenues from the US. We wouldn’t expect any New Jersey licenses to be operational until 2014 at the earliest. And it will be B2B opportunity, with licenses issued to landbased Casino operators. But given the relative strength of the European technology platforms, there will be significant scope for the European operators and technology providers to benefit from B2B deals. And we would expect to see some kind of domino effect, with New Jersey putting pressure on other states to introduce Online Gaming regulation, given the potential tax benefits (California, Florida etc), and also for the Federal government to provide some form of Federal regulatory framework.
The US was just under 50% of the global Online market, prior to the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006. Since then, all of the European-listed online gaming operators and B2B suppliers have withdrawn. This is therefore a significant incremental opportunity for the sector.
We think the biggest beneficiary is likely to be bwin.party (HOLD, TP 122p). It was the market leader in the US Online poker market prior to UIGEA and has a B2B partnership with Boyd Gaming, which operates an Atlantic City casino. It is significantly the cheapest stock in the sub-sector (given concerns over exposure to Germany and a structurally challenged European Online Poker market). Other major beneficiaries would be 888 (HOLD, TP 125p), which has a B2B partnership with Caesars, another Atlantic City casino operator. And, we think Playtech (BUY, TP 604p) would be well placed to benefit, as the only pure B2B company (that is listed) and we would expect it to secure B2B licenses, given a number of Casino operators that have yet to commit."

Full Year Results - Friday 15 March 2013

bwin.party digital entertainment plc, the world's leading listed online gaming company, will announce its results for the year ended 31 December 2012 on Friday 15 March 2013. Norbert Teufelberger, Chief Executive Officer and Martin Weigold, Chief Financial Officer, will host a meeting for invited UK-based analysts on the day of the results and there will be a simultaneous webcast and dial-in broadcast of the meeting.

The live webcast will be available at the Group's website: www.bwinparty.com. Details for the dial-in facility are given below. A copy of the webcast and slide presentation given at the meeting will be available on the Group's website later on the day

Citigroup note today:
"Our current estimate for the NJ online gaming market is $250m in the first full year which we think will be 2015. Using an EBITDA margin of 35% off of that estimate would give you EBITDA of $86m to be shared by 11 operators. Our analysis does NOT include the revenue associated with players out of state but playing in NJ.
Given bwin.party (BUY, TP 195) has a JV with Boyd and MGM then we think bwin.party will be the biggest beneficiaries of New Jersey online gaming and could generate $8.5m or €11m of EBIT by 2015E. However, given some very negative recent comments from Caesars CEO, which have a software relationship with 888 for the US market “at some point we’d anticipate that we might migrate off the 888 platform and onto the Barrière platform in due time” we think 888 exposure to New Jersey is likely to limited. Playtech currently has no deals signed in New Jersey. Overall a positive, but it will take longer to happen than the market thinks, in our view.
NJ worth 6% to EPS. NJ’s size and relative affluence suggest it could be a €320m market in Y1. In a 65% JV, with c.20% market share and c.20% margin we expect an FY14E EBITDA contribution of €9m growing at 10% p.a. We note that in contrast to the federal bill, NJ law would allow Pokerstars back in. This could significantly impact bwin.party’s market share and could set a precedent for other states.
US worth 53p. We expect other states to eventually follow NJ resulting in a patchwork of regulatory frameworks (like Europe). Our bottom up analysis suggests that the US market could be worth €7.9bn by FY18. We think bwin.party can capture c.15% market share which with margins of c.15-20% would be worth 53p.
German concerns remain – As the German online gaming legislation has been referred to the ECJ we now assume a German poker and casino exit (€40m lost EBIT) now in FY15 and not FY14. Even if current German legislation is ruled to be illegal, we think the German federal government would seek to tax poker and casino aggressively (as they have with sports) significantly impacting profitability.
Upgrade to Neutral – The inclusion of our US forecasts combined with a delayed
German exit drive a 31%/14% upgrade to FY14/15 EPS forecasts. This drives our
new 140p TP based on a DCF methodology. Nevertheless the stock has rallied on
the NJ news and we think looks fully valued. bwin.party trades on FY13E PE 13.4x
and EV/EBITDA 7.5x vs sector at 16.8x and 9.1x."

Morgan Stanley bet that both outfits will be “the winners here”, and its analysts upped their share-price target for Bwin.Party
27th Feb
- See more at: http://www.directorstalk.com/#sthash.w6kFN8lG.dpuf

What's your take on ZNGA, skinny. I have done a little research on the company, but it does look as though they already have a commercial agreement with BPTY and it also looks as though the existing casino/gaming operators in the U.S. will have a head start over the games providers.

Harry, I haven't done an awful amount of research, but as you have alluded to, gambling is massive market and as such, I've had a small punt.

It does look like the recent news has caused some interest.

Link posted on the Talk thread.

Zynga’s Online Gaming Push Faces Hurdles From Casinos

Just an opinion, but worth a read.

http://beta.fool.com/valuemagnet/2013/03/01/why-zynga-overvalued-or-without-online-poker/25802/?logvisit=y&published=2013-03-01&source=eptcnnlnk0000001

A pretty damning article Harry and if you were an initial investor, you would be fairly p*ssed off.

I'm in @$3 and it is a small punt - one might even say an online bet!

Very interesting sector as I remember the valuations of all of the on-line gaming companies before the U.S. ban. Some of the little guys fell by the wayside but the survivors were hugely cash generative with ridiculous profit margins, but I assume that is what the IRS are interested in tapping into?
Think I will hang on to my BPTY & 888 holdings for the time being and see what the yanks decide to do.
Had a quick look at CZR & BYD in the U.S. but neither appeal just yet.

"As are result of the bill being signed into law we (Morgan Stanley) are reinstating our buy recommendation on Bwin, with a target price of 173p. However German exposure in our view is likely to cause further volatility to the share price.
Morgan Stanley was also positive on the news, raising its target price for Bwin from 160p to 200p and for rival 888 from 140p to 175p. Analyst Vaughan Lewis said:
New laws in New Jersey mean online gambling should launch in 9-12 months. We think 888 and Bwin.party will be among the winners here, and increase our 2015 earnings per share forecasts by 24% for 888 and 5% for Bwin.party. Longer-term implications are more positive, as the world's largest gambling market opens.
We expect European operators to be involved as suppliers and partners. The law restricts the online gambling market to the 8 existing casino licensees. With limited operational knowledge in the US, we expect most operators to enter into partnerships and software agreements. This should benefit industry leaders with proprietary technology, such as Bwin.party and 888.
New Jersey is small…but the longer-term impact could be significant. The US is the largest single gambling market in the world, and we see long-term potential worth up to 460p per share for 888 and 560p per share for Bwin.party."

StockMarketWire.com
Online gaming firm bwin.party digital entertainment reported that a solid performance in sports, casino & games and emerging businesses was offset by new German gaming tax and a decline in poker.

Pro forma revenue was down 2% to €801.6m in the year to end-December. Actual revenue was up 16% driven primarily by the Merger.

Pro forma Clean EBITDA from Continuing operations down 17% to €164.9m due to flat revenue, increased gaming taxes and compliance costs. Actual Clean EBITDA from Continuing operations down 2% to €164.9m.

Continuing pro forma Clean EPS of 14.7 € cents per share (2011: 18.5 € cents); actual Clean EPS of 14.7 € cents per share (2011: 17.9 € cents).

Current trading is impacted by dotcom migration and increased focus on nationally regulated markets with associated reduction in dotcom marketing spend: average gross daily revenue of €2.4m (Q412: €2.6m) but with an offsetting increase in Clean EBITDA margins.

Revenue for 2013 now expected to be slightly lower than current market estimates, but impact on Clean EBITDA to be offset by cost savings. The Board remains confident about the full year result.

Recommended final dividend up 10% to 1.72 pence per share (2011: 1.56 pence) making a total FY12 dividend of 3.44 pence per share (2011: 3.12 pence).

Norbert Teufelberger, CEO, said: "Most of last year was focused on integration. 2013 will be about completing this effort and transforming our business through innovation as we revitalise our offer with a string of product updates and extend our reach through mobile and social media channels. With most of our single technology platform in place, we are now optimising the shape and size of our business in order to maximise our operational and financial performance.

"Our strategy is unchanged, but we are not relying on innovation alone to return our business to growth. We are accelerating the pace of change by shifting our revenue mix towards nationally regulated and to-be-regulated markets. This includes gearing up for a launch in the US, which now seems to be a more likely prospect within the next twelve months following recent events at state level.

"At the same time we are changing our approach to dotcom markets with increased focus on fewer but more valuable customers. We are simplifying our business, moving from 'volume' to 'value', which we believe will allow us to further increase our operational efficiency. We expect this approach to generate significant additional cashflow to offset increased investment and taxes as additional markets regulate and also to fund growth in new business areas such as payments and social gaming.

"Our current trading in January and Februrary was impacted by some user experience issues following the dotcom migration in December 2012, the impact of which was slightly higher than expected. It was also impacted by decisions taken in January 2013 to increase our focus on nationally regulated markets and on high value customers. The result was that gross average daily revenue was down 7% versus the fourth quarter of 2012 to €2.4m (Q412: €2.6m). However, Clean EBITDA margins for the same period are running higher than expected which has fully mitigated the revenue shortfall.

"The migration problems have now stabilised and while the user experience issues coupled with the actions taken to-date mean that 2013 total revenue is expected to be lower than current market estimates, associated cost savings mean that the Board remains confident about the full year result. We are recommending a final dividend of 1.72p per share making 3.44p per share for the full year, a 10% increase over 2011."

Note from Peel Hunt today:
"These results highlight the challenges and the opportunities facing bwin.party. On the face of it, the strategy of focusing on fewer but more profitable markets/customers makes sense, but converting this to bottom-line growth has thus far proved elusive. To be fair, some of this has been beyond management’s control, but not always. At the current point, the risk/reward profile looks finely balanced.
Current trading highlights issues: Current trading highlights the challenges at bwin.party. Gross daily revenue is down 7% on Q4 (10%) net, with the performance being blamed on .com migration issues and the decision to place a greater focus on regulated markets and higher-value customers. It is perhaps unfortunate that the merger happened at a time when the group faced significant challenges in some of its key markets, causing a distraction when it could be least afforded. The question is whether bwin.party is truly playing a long game that will ultimately pay off, or whether the underlying business is just not performing as well as it should be? Some comfort can be taken from the fact that the EBITDA margin has improved sufficiently (thus far in 2013) to offset the revenue shortfall. However, we consider management still has much to prove.
US positioning: The shares have recently recovered because of developments in the US. We believe that the group has positioned itself well here, and the Party Poker brand awareness should prove a major asset should a B2C offering come to fruition (the group has yet to be granted a licence).
Bottom line delivery required: Accompanying these figures was a clear strategic message, which is effectively a greater focus on fewer but more profitable markets and customers, along with product investment/enhancement. This makes sense, but the group now needs to do something that has proved difficult over the past few years – convert the narrative into bottom line growth. On balance we consider that the rating is about right (c8x to Dec 2013E) and that there is no need to chase the shares."

Geoff Baldwin, Non Executive Director, bought 226,000 shares in the company on the 15th March 2013 at a price of 147.83p.

Geoff Baldwin, Non Executive Director, bought 47,000 shares in the company on the 18th March 2013 at a price of 148.02p. The Director now holds 400,000 shares.

Interim Management Statement and Q1 2013 Key Performance Indicators

· Clean EBITDA in the first quarter was in line with the Board's expectations due to cost savings generated on the back of our 'volume' to 'value' approach despite total revenue1 down 17% to €180.2m (2012: €215.9m)

· Revenue performance reflects the introduction of a 5% turnover tax on sports betting in Germany, a significant reduction in acquisition marketing in several dotcom countries and lower than expected player activity on poker and casino following the dotcom migration

· Total savings of €70m per annum to be delivered in 2013, with further savings in 2014 and 2015; The Board remains comfortable with previous guidance on Clean EBITDA margins

· First phase of our new poker product, new social sports betting product and new bingo product are all expected to launch as planned

· Nevada and New Jersey lead the opening of the US market with other states expected to follow

· The Board believes that the Company is very well positioned to take a market leading position as and when other states regulate

· Given the planned launch of a number of new products, the progress already made on reducing costs and the opening of the US online gaming market, the Board remains confident about the Group's prospects

Commenting on today's announcement, Norbert Teufelberger, CEO said:

"The drop in revenue in the first quarter reflects our tactical shift from 'volume' to 'value' that we announced at the time of the full year results, as well as lower than expected player activity in poker and casino following the dotcom migration in December 2012.

"As previously announced, our shift in tactics will see us optimise the shape and size of our business, a process that is expected to reduce total revenue in 2013 by up to 10% compared with 2012. However, our programme to reduce costs is on-track and we remain comfortable with our previous guidance on Clean EBITDA margins having identified total savings of approximately €70m per annum to be delivered in 2013 with more to come in 2014 and 2015.

"Whilst seasonality and the absence of a major football tournament this year mean that revenue trends are unlikely to improve until the second half of the year, a series of new product launches and the anticipated opening of poker and casino in New Jersey coupled with a detailed programme of cost savings and a greater focus on regulated markets mean we remain confident about the Group's prospects."

StockMarketWire.com
Investec has upgraded its recommendation on Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment (LON:BPTY) to "buy" from "hold" despite the company reporting soft first quarter revenue performance. The City broker pointed out that it had always expected the first half of the year to be difficult, given the difficult transformation taking place, and has increased its price target by nearly 30 per cent to 180 pence per share (up from 140 pence) based on the company's increased mid-term earnings outlook.
Separately, Deutsche Bank and Numis have reiterated "buy" ratings today, with both brokers leaving their price target unchanged at 200 pence per share.
Meanwhile, Canaccord Genuity has stuck with its "hold" recommendation and increased its price target by 27 per cent to 155 pence per share (from 122 pence).

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party and Real Madrid have confirmed they are in the final stages of extending their longstanding relationship, which will see bwin become Real Madrid's official digital partner in a new multi-year deal.

The new partnership will follow the completion of bwin's six-year shirt sponsorship which concludes at the end of the 2012-13 season.

The long-term shirt sponsorship of Real Madrid has seen as fundamental in establishing bwin as Europe's leading online gaming brand.

The decision to move to a new digital partnership reflects a shift in consumer behaviour over the past few years which has led to an evolution in bwin.party's sponsorship strategy to focus on social media and social gaming, online and mobile integration, as well as exploiting the Group's extensive content and media rights catalogue.

It is in these areas that both parties are now looking to extend their relationship going forward.

The new digital partnership will position bwin at the centre of promotional activities for one of the world's most popular football clubs and includes the integration of the bwin brand into Real's website, social media and mobile apps, the creation of co-branded gaming products, match day perimeter board signage and access to players for marketing campaigns.

Commenting on the announcement, bwin.party Group CEO, Norbert Teufelberger said: "Our decision not to renew the shirt sponsorship brings to an end one chapter in our relationship with Real Madrid which has delivered six highly successful years of brand promotion for bwin on the shirts of one of the world's truly global football brands.

We now look forward to beginning the next chapter by leveraging our brand strengths to drive revenue and create premium content for our customers and Real Madrid's millions of followers. We remain committed sponsors and wish Real Madrid every success in the club's pursuit of more trophies.

StockMarketWire.com
Global online gaming company bwin.party digital entertainment will be issuing a pre-close trading update on 10 July 2013.

The interim results for the six months to the end of June will be announced on 30 August 2013.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment says it remains on track to deliver €70m of cost savings in 2013.

The group said that trading in the year-to-date reflected the group's shift from volume to value, the introduction of a turnover tax in Germany in July 2012, as well as some issues it faced following the migration of bwin.com customers in December 2012, all against a challenging competitive and market backdrop.

But chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said the process to optimise the shape and size of the business, with a greater focus on regulated and to-be-regulated markets, is on-track.

He said: "While the revenue performance was down on last year, we remain on course to deliver the targeted €70m of cost savings in 2013 with more to follow in 2014. During the second half we expect to roll out our new real money and social gaming products as well as, regulations permitting, the launch of our poker and casino games in New Jersey."

bwin signs Juventus as new digital partner
bwin.party and Juventus have today announced a new strategic partnership which sees the bwin brand become the official online gaming and betting partner of the Italian footballing giant.

The partnership with the Serie A Champions, which runs for three seasons, will boost the profile of the bwin brand in Italy, Europe's third largest real money gaming market and reinforces bwin's position as Europe's leading sports betting brand in football.

The sponsorship package positions bwin at the centre of the promotional activities of Italy's most successful club and includes a series of initiatives dedicated to the fans, totally integrated in the digital and social Juventus platform along with the development of on and off-line co-branding activities, stadium branding and access to players for marketing campaigns.

With the new digital partnership, Juventus becomes the latest member of Europe's football royalty to join forces with bwin, a group of partners which already includes Manchester United, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. These sponsorships offer bwin customers unparalleled football experiences, which in the past year have included the opportunity for fans to play at Old Trafford; go backstage at the Bernabeu; and fly with the Bayern Munich squad to a Champions' League fixture.

The Juventus partnership reflects an evolution in bwin.party's sponsorship strategy with an increased focus on social media and social gaming, online and mobile integration, as well as exploiting the Group's extensive content and media rights catalogue. The 2013-14 season is set to see the addition of more teams, details will be announced in the coming weeks.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party and Olympique de Marseille (OM) have announced a new sponsorship deal.

It will see the bwin brand become OM's official online betting and gaming partner.

The hope is that the three-year partnership will boost the profile and status of the bwin brand in France and strengthen its position as Europe's leading football betting brand.

The agreement is in line with bwin.party's strategy to develop digital partnerships with iconic football clubs in European countries where online gaming is regulated. bwin has already announced similar partnerships with Real Madrid, Manchester United, FC Bayern, Juventus Turin and RSC Anderlecht.

For Olympique de Marseille, teaming up with bwin, a major player in the sport sponsorship market, will give the club a new international reach and will provide unique online content and fan experiences.

The sponsorship package includes a series of fan-based initiatives including opportunities to train with the squad and travel to Champions League fixtures; integration into OM's digital and social platforms; the development of on and off-line co-branded activities; stadium branding; and access to players for marketing campaigns.

bwin and OM also expect to develop social games and mobile applications.

Norbert Teufelberger, CEO at bwin, said: "We are proud to establish this partnership with Olympique de Marseille, one of the oldest and most successful clubs in France and Europe. Today's announcement means that we are now partnered with six of the greatest clubs in European football, enabling us to offer our customers an unparalleled range of online and real world offers."

bwin.party digital entertainment plc
Half Year report for the six months ended 30 June 2013 to be announced on Friday 30 August 2013.

Half Year Dividend
The Board of bwin.party has today declared a half year dividend of 1.80 pence per ordinary share in respect of the six month period ended 30 June 2013.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenues fell to €342.5m in the six months to the end of June - down from €410.0m last time.

But the group says its sustainable revenue base now forms a solid foundation for future growth and it is on track to deliver at least €70m of cost savings in the current year versus 2012 and up to €20m of additional savings in 2014.

Clean earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation from continuing operations of €60.7m was down 34% reflecting the impact of a turnover tax on sports betting in Germany introduced on 1 July 2012, ISP blocking in Belgium and the closure of slots in Spain.

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "The first half was always going to be a challenge as we set about optimising the shape and size of our business, with a much greater focus on nationally regulated and to-be-regulated markets.

"As predicted, this meant that revenues declined but it also meant that we could make further substantial reductions in our cost base. However, our performance and revenue is behind where we expected it to be at this point. This is partly due to external factors but also due to operational challenges associated with our dotcom migration in December 2012.

"Changing the way we work and in particular the way we develop and implement software using the 'Agile' methodology represents a key step in improving our operational performance. Having already been deployed by many of the major eCommerce companies around the world, our move to Agile is starting to produce benefits in terms of productivity, speed of development and implementation.

"Over the next 12 months we expect to double the number of software releases whilst continuing to improve product quality and platform stability. These are all important drivers for our long-term revenue performance.

"This change in our working practices has been instrumental in ensuring that our new partypoker product is ready for launch, firstly into the dotcom environment and then into our core nationally regulated markets. The launch will reposition the partypoker brand ahead of the opening of the US market and revitalise the product, ensuring that it more than meets the expectations of today's recreational digital consumer. "Our focus on product innovation has not been limited to poker. We will be launching a new version of our partybingo product before the end of the year and are continuing to press ahead with our preparations for the opening of the market in New Jersey. Also to come in 2013 is a brand new mobile interface in sports; a new social sports betting app that we have developed with Nordeus; the launch of premium.com, a new service focused on high value customers; and partypoker's next phase of development when we will introduce additional features for the casual player."

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment has launched partypoker.com - a first step in the integration of social features into the real money gaming environment.

The company says the phase one release is "jam-packed with exciting new features and a fresh new look, logo and interface, mixing the best of the old with the new, in a player-friendly environment".

The first phase release of the all new partypoker.com is now available on Mac and PC in download and no download versions.

Canaccord comment:
"bwin.party has long fallen into the “cheap for a reason” category, but is on just 6.2x FY14F EV/EBITDA, against a peer group mostly in the range of 9x to 11x. Put FY14F regulated/taxed profits on a 12x multiple, unregulated on 6x and add in our 11p NPV for New Jersey and we calculate the shares are worth 128p. And there is potential option value as other US states start to open up. Investors may prefer to see evidence of a turnaround from the Poker relaunch, but we see limited downside risk and significant scope for potential rerating. We cut our multiples-derived TP from 141p to 128p (a 7.5x FY14F EV/EBITDA), but this represents 18% potential upside. We move from Hold to BUY."

Substantial Shareholders' Divestiture Arrangements Pursuant To New Jersey Licence Application

Summary
On 29 July 2013, bwin.party applied to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ('DGE') for a Casino Service Industry Enterprise Licence (the 'Licence'). As part of the application process, certain substantial shareholders of bwin.party are required to submit individual Licence applications to the DGE or otherwise dispose of their shareholdings. As a result, certain substantial shareholders of bwin.party have elected, subject to the conditions summarised below, to place their bwin.party shares into divestiture trusts, through which their shares will be divested over a period of up to 36 months in one or more transactions at times to be determined.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4696345

Transactional Waiver Granted in New Jersey
Having applied to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ('DGE') for a Casino Service Industry Enterprise Licence (the 'Licence') earlier this year, we are delighted to announce that the Company has been awarded a transactional waiver by the DGE pending full licensure. This transactional waiver means that bwin.party is now eligible to participate in the online gaming market in New Jersey which is expected to open on 26 November 2013.

Operating under the land-based casino licence of our partner in New Jersey, Borgata Casino, we intend to launch poker and casino games under both Borgata's and our own brands, including www.partypoker.com.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenues fell by 21% to €145.7m in the third quarter.

The group says this was in-line with previously reported trading to 25 August, and was primarily due to its shift from 'volume to value' and ISP blocking in Greece.

The group says its cost saving target of €70m for the full year is expected to be exceeded, but Greek ISP blocking will result in a modest net impact to revenue and clean EBITDA for 2013 with a full year effect in 2014.

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "As we expected, our underlying Q3 performance appears to have represented the floor in what has been a transitional year for the Group. Performance in the period was impacted by our shift from 'volume to value', continued declines in poker ahead of our dotcom relaunch, ISP blocking in Greece and a softer than expected sports margin in September.

"Whilst year-on-year comparisons for the current trading period are also impacted by the factors outlined above, average daily revenue for the six weeks to 11 November is up 18% versus the average for the previous quarter. All verticals have grown despite the continued impact of ISP blocking in Greece, although performance in sports was weaker than anticipated due to a softer than expected sports margin during the first three weeks of October.

"We have made excellent progress in respect of reducing our cost base. We now expect to exceed the €70m target for 2013 that was communicated at the beginning of the year and this will help us to mitigate some of the impact from Greek ISP blocking which began during August.

"In the US, we received our transactional waiver from the Division of Gaming Enforcement in NewJersey on 8 November and are on-track to launch poker and casino as soon as we are cleared to do so."

26 November 2013

bwin.party digital entertainment plc

Partypoker launches in New Jersey

After an intensive period of soft play testing, we are pleased to announce that following receipt of the requisite approvals from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ('DGE'), our real money poker and casino games went live in New Jersey at midnight EST (0500am GMT) today and can now be played at nj.partypoker.com and nj.partypoker.com/casino.

Our partner in New Jersey, the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, was also given permission to go live with its two sites: www.Borgatapoker.com and www.Borgatacasino.com that operate using our proprietary technology platform as well as our poker and casino software.

Norbert Teufelberger, Chief Executive Officer of bwin.party, said:

"This is an historic day for us. It marks our return to the United States after an absence of seven years. Back in 2006, partypoker had an estimated 47% market share in the US and we have worked hard to ensure that our return delivers a truly great customer experience. The initial feedback from the hundreds of players who have already tested partypoker in New Jersey is encouraging.

"We are delighted to be 'back in the game' and are focused on providing great gaming entertainment to customers in New Jersey, with a full suite of casino games, including over 30 proprietary games that are exclusive to the bwin.party network, poker tournaments, jackpots and promotions. Our mobile and tablet offer, that will go live soon, will provide access to all of our games through both iOS and Android devices, allowing our customers to enjoy our games when they are on the move in the Garden State."

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party (LON:BPTY), the global online gaming company, will be issuing a pre-close trading update on Wednesday 18 December 2013.

HARRY long time to wait!

Cheers h! Slight typo! Duly corrected.

Pre-Close trading update

Key points
Ø Overall trading in the 11 weeks since 30 September 2013 has been in-line with management's expectations

Ø The partypoker/Borgata network is the leading poker network in the newly regulated New Jersey market according to data from Pokerscout.com

Ø US marketing and related launch costs of €7-10m to be incurred in 2013, in-line with previous guidance

Ø Including US-related costs, Continuing Clean EBITDA1 margin for the year ended 31 December 2013 is expected to be between 16% and 17%

Ø Outlook remains positive for 2014: new product launches, continued mobile expansion, prospects for further growth in the US and increased betting volumes during the FIFA World Cup

Ø Simon Duffy to step down as Chairman at the 2014 AGM

Ø New £50m revolving credit facility provided by Royal Bank of Scotland

Trading update
Since the end of September 2013 the Group’s performance has been in-line with management’s expectations with 52% of average net daily revenue coming from nationally and/or taxed markets2. Gross win margins in sports betting have remained strong, with betting volumes slightly lower reflecting a reduced sporting calendar during the international series of football matches in November. Mobile remains an important channel representing approximately 25% of sports average daily net revenue in the period. An all-new version of our sports mobile product went live in Spain on 16 December and will be rolled out to our other markets during the first half of 2014.

In poker, revenues have grown since the introduction of our new poker client that is now available to approximately 65% of our customers, as well as from the launch into New Jersey where our network is the market leader based on the number of cash game players according to data from Pokerscout.com. Our iOS applications for poker and casino are ready to launch in New Jersey as soon as they receive the requisite approval from the regulator which we hope will be received shortly.

Casino has also benefited from the launch into New Jersey and with a much improved mobile offer in our core markets in Q1 2014, we expect to see further casino growth through this channel.

Bingo net revenue has improved versus the previous quarter with a steady recovery in performance in both the UK and Italy while Spain remains relatively small.

Including US marketing and launch-related costs of between €7m and €10m in the current year (of which €1.5m was expensed during the first half of 2013), it is expected that in the year to 31 December 2013 Continuing Clean EBITDA margins for the Group will be between 16% and 17%, assuming a normalised gross win margin in sports betting between now and the end of the year.

Daniel Stewart & Co has cut its target price for bwin.party Digital Entertainment but reinstated its 'buy' stance, saying that the online gambling firm is positioned for growth after a tough year. The broker, which has had the stock under review for some time, reduced its target from 173p to 146p.

Nevertheless, it said that the firm has "come through the worst of it" and that 2014 should lay the foundations for a return to growth, helped by new product launches and growth from exposure to the newly regulated online market in New Jersey.

Canaccord note:
"bwin.party produced a reassuring trading update, albeit with forecasts coming down as we reflect previously identified US start-up losses in our normalised numbers. Management confirmed that Q4 trading was in line with expectations, with some recovery in Sports gross win margin following a disappointing Q3. Revenues continued to be impacted by ISP blocking in Greece, but, encouragingly, BPTY reported a recovery in Poker revenues QonQ, where player numbers are recovering after the initial teething problems from the product relaunch. And in mobile, momentum continues, with mobile now 25% of sports betting revenues, almost double the run rate of a year ago. In the US, BPTY reported a “successful” launch in New Jersey, with some US blogs suggesting BPTY has grabbed as much as 50% of the fledgling market; Pokerscout data certainly suggests BPTY’s peak player numbers for cash poker are 80% ahead of the number two network, 888’s WSOP."

bwin Feed selected as live sports betting content provider for Fortuna Entertainment Group
bwin.party is pleased to announce that it has been chosen to provide sports betting content to Fortuna Entertainment Group, Central Europe's largest betting operator. The B2B deal integrates bwin.party's sports content - bwin Feed - into Fortuna Entertainment Group's sports betting client.

bwin Feed provides live sports betting data including odds, fixtures, results, scoreboards and events calendars in multiple languages to online and land-based B2B clients. The feed can be integrated into a client's betting point of sales via a state-of-the-art interface, enabling them to offer their customers an extensive sports book and supporting content.

Radim Haluza, CEO of Fortuna, said: "bwin's experience in the sports betting arena coupled with their reputation as pioneers in the live-betting industry made them the obvious choice for us when selecting a partner to expand our sports book product. We are proud to partner with them and expect the deal to have a positive impact on our business."

Marco Falchetto, Director Sports Betting, bwin.party, said: "We are excited to enable Fortuna to offer their customers the same innovative sports betting experience that our customers have enjoyed since 2005. Our service will contribute to the growth of Fortuna's business and we look forward to replicating this success with other B2B partners."

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party will announce its full year results on 13 March 2014.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenues fell to €652.4m in the year to the end of December - down from €801.6m last time.

The group says this reflects the shift from 'volume to value', ISP blocking in Greece, migration losses and the full year impact of gaming taxes in Germany. Nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 53% of total revenue (2012: 43%).

Gross gaming revenue through mobile/touch grew by 77% to €76.9m.

Clean EBITDA from continuing operations fell to €108.0m (2012: €164.9m) due to lower revenue, increased gaming taxes in Germany and start-up costs in New Jersey. The group posts a continuing operating profit of €51.9m (2012: loss of €16.5m) driven by release of acquisition fair value provisions, absence of retroactive taxes and lower amortisation costs.

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "2013 was a challenging year for our business, but it also marked a turning point as we increased our focus on regulated and to-be-regulated markets, began to roll-out new and refreshed versions of our mobile and desktop products, and commenced the transformation of our technology infrastructure through the adoption of the Agile development methodology. Having streamlined the shape and size of our business we now have the foundations to return our business to sustainable growth."

Note from Canaccord today:
"bwin.party reported results in line with our expectations, after what has been a particularly challenging year. Revenues fell by 19% to €652.4 (vs our €652.6m), while EBITDA came in at €108.0m, against our €108.3m. The drivers had been well documented, a combination of the volume-to-value strategy (cutting marketing in non-core markets), ISP blocking in Greece, poor gross win margin in Q3 and weak trends in Poker. But there were some positives. Q4 revenues were +10% QonQ, with Poker +5% (a positive response to relaunch of poker platform), and mobile now up to 28% of sportsbook revenues, from 15% in FY12, and total mobile revenues up by 77% YoY. The group increased its dividend by 5% to 3.6p, a positive signal. And the group finished the year with €139.9m of net cash (CG €145m), or €63.8m net of client liabilities.
After a year of significant challenges/disappointments, there are some positive signs at BPTY. Year to date, revenues are up by 6% QonQ – this is still -11% YoY, given the impact of Volume-to-Value and Greek ISP blocking – and poker has continued to recover QonQ (+3%). The group has just relaunched its new mobile platform in Spain. And the World Cup should provide a positive kicker for trading through the summer (management estimates it is the equivalent of an extra month’s trading). There are also €20m of incremental cost savings coming through in FY14, which we expect to drive earnings growth. The launch in New Jersey has gone well from a market share perspective (BPTY still had a 40% market share in February), but market growth has been disappointing (reflecting early geolocation and payment processing problems), although trends remain encouraging. As a result, we are trimming forecasts, with EBITDA down from €126.5m to €121.5m in FY14, driving a 4% downgrade to EPS from 9.4c to 9.0c.
bwin.party is trading on a FY14F EV/EBITDA of 9.0x and PER of 16.2x (or 14.3x adjusted for net cash). We think this looks attractive, given evidence of a turnaround in the core business, and its strong positioning in the re-opening US market. We stick at BUY and retain our 145p multiples-derived target price.

StockMarketWire.com
Citigroup has downgraded its recommendation on Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (LON:BPTY) to "sell" from "neutral", believing the stock's valuation is inconsistent with the slow progress being made by the company. The broker pointed out that, in its opinion, European trading remains weak and initial revenues from New Jersey have been disappointing. Analysts have cut their price target to 95 pence per share (from 125 pence), suggesting a negative expected total return of around 21 per cent. Contrastingly, Numis reaffirmed its "buy" stock rating in a note to investors, late last week. The broker said: "bwin.party, and its shareholders, have suffered repeated bludgeonings of chance and yet today's analysts' meeting confirmed that management still has the ambition, and a plan, to master the company's fate." Numis left its price target unchanged at 200 pence a share.

StockMarketWire.com
Online gaming group bwin.party digital entertainment said average daily net revenue was up 4% in Q1 versus the previous quarter but down 9% versus the prior year, primarily reflecting the shift from 'volume to value', ISP blocking in Greece, migration losses and a challenging poker market in Europe

· Total revenue was up 1% versus the previous quarter despite two less days in the quarter but down 8% to €165.7m year-on-year (2013: €180.2m)

· Nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 56% of total revenue (2013: 51%)

· Mobile/touch represented 17% of total gross gaming revenue (2013: 8%)

· Additional cost savings of €20m per annum on-track to be delivered in 2014, with further savings in 2015 following platform integrations in France and Italy

· Maintained leadership position in New Jersey; pursuing opportunities in other states

· Philip Yea joins the Board and will succeed Simon Duffy as Chairman

Norbert Teufelberger, CEO said:

"The business has continued to deliver sequential growth since Q3 2013 that we predicted would be the low point in terms of revenue performance.

"Whilst we are investing in growing our share in nationally regulated markets, the €20m of additional cost savings should help to drive higher Clean EBITDA margins in 2014.

"We remain optimistic about new market opportunities in the United States with online poker bills currently being reviewed in California and New York. On the back of our early success in New Jersey, together with our partners, we are determined to secure leading positions in all eligible states that represent a significant business opportunity.

"I am delighted to welcome Philip Yea's appointment to the Board as detailed in a separate announcement today. Philip brings a wealth of experience that I am sure will prove invaluable as we continue our transition to nationally regulated markets. Whilst we are now moving into the seasonally quiet trading period, with the roll-out of new products, more mobile extensions and the FIFA World Cup to come, the Board remains confident about the Group's full year prospects."

OWL directors to sit on board or c ushon? very high credentials mst be good, bid picture forming.?

bwin.party digital entertainment plc Agreement with SpringOwl
Further to the Company's announcement on 16 May 2014, concerning planned changes to the composition of the Board, bwin.party announces that it has agreed to work closely with SpringOwl on the appointment of its new directors and confirms its agreement to consider Michael Fertik, one of SpringOwl's nominees, as a potential candidate. To support this process, SpringOwl has nominated Daniel Silvers to the Board under the terms of the Relationship Agreement. Daniel Silvers will take up his position on the Board as soon as practicable.

Accordingly, SpringOwl Gibraltar Partners B Ltd ('SpringOwl') today withdrew its four resolutions (being resolutions 19-22) that were scheduled to be put to shareholders at today's Annual General Meeting (the 'SpringOwl Resolutions').

Philip Yea, bwin.party's Chairman elect said:
"I am pleased to be able to demonstrate common ground with SpringOwl and welcome its support. There remains much work ahead and, together with the rest of the Board, I look forward to working closely with SpringOwl as a significant shareholder in bwin.party and welcome Dan Silvers to the Board as SpringOwl's appointed nominee."

Jason Ader, founder of SpringOwl said:
"bwin.party is a business with great brands and enormous potential. We welcome the planned changes to the composition of the Board announced last week and are looking forward to working with Philip Yea and the Board over the coming period to ensure that this potential is both realised and translated into long-term value for shareholders."

Kalixa substantially increases scale with acquisition of PXP Solutions
bwin.party today announces that its Kalixa payments group has acquired PXP Solutions, a private company with a 27-year track record in the card payment processing sector. Financial terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed.

The acquisition represents an important step in the acceleration of the Group's three-year plan to grow Kalixa and to increase significantly the proportion of its revenue coming from outside the Group. Integrating PXP will significantly grow the size of Kalixa's payment processing volume and is expected to generate substantial revenue synergies in the areas of credit and debit card acquisition and issuance. With further strategic moves planned for later in the year, Kalixa is well on its way towards achieving the scale, breadth and customer reach that will ensure it can realise its potential.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4817772

Media speculation
The Board of bwin.party has noted the recent speculation in the media regarding a possible break-up or sale of the company.

Since his appointment as Chairman last month, Philip Yea has been working with the executive management team on ways in which the Group can increase shareholder value, however we can confirm that there are no plans to break-up or sell the company.

polker stars to list in London & take over a company, b win next, wants new
jersey business in the usa the only way t hay can get it s via b win, to sell
part of that business or full blown takeover previous papers speculation in june,
rcent b win sell off may be all part of it, time will tell all.

Pre-close trading update

Key points
· Revenue performance in the three months to 30 June was mixed with solid performance in sports, which grew year-on-year, partially offsetting a soft performance in poker and casino. Bingo remained broadly flat versus the previous year despite challenging competitive conditions in the UK and Italy

· Since the end of June, volumes and gross win margins from the FIFA World Cup have been strong and overall the tournament performance has been in-line with management's expectations

· Mobile/touch continues to grow strongly and in the three months to 30 June 2014 represented approximately 35% of sports betting gross gaming revenue (Q2 2013: 21%) and 21% of gross gaming revenue overall (Q2 2013: 9%)

· Nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented approximately 56% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2014 (Q2 2013: 52%)

· Several new product initiatives are now live including mobile products for sports betting, poker, casino and bingo

· The Board expects to deliver additional cost savings in 2014 of €10m in addition to the €20m of cost savings that have already been announced and consequently remains confident in full year outlook

· Further potential cost savings to be delivered in 2015 have been identified by management, details of which are expected to be announced with the half year results on 29 August 2014

Norbert Teufelberger, CEO of bwin.party, said:
"Trading in the second quarter was mixed with revenue a little softer than expected but Clean EBITDA margins were slightly better than expected. While the decline in the dotcom poker market in the period also affected our casino business, the impact was mitigated by an uplift in player activity in sports betting in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets, largely driven by the FIFA World Cup. The UK bingo market has remained highly competitive ahead of the introduction of a point of consumption tax later this year, but our Foxy Bingo brand has maintained a leadership position and our new mobile offering has been well received.

"As expected, the start-up losses in New Jersey, ISP blocking in Greece and the absence of domain sales in the first half have impacted both the revenue and Clean EBITDA performance versus the prior year. However, we are taking steps to improve operating performance, simplify decision-making, reduce complexity and costs and, as a result, remain confident about the full year outlook."

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4848869

Half Year Dividend
The Board of bwin.party has today declared a half year dividend of 1.89 pence per ordinary share in respect of the six month period ended 30 June 2014.

StockMarketWire.com

bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenue fell to €317.1m in the six months to the end of June - down from €342.5m - following a mixed first half performance.

The group said the fall reflected a shift from 'volume to value', a soft international poker market and the loss of €11.9m of revenue from Greece following the closure of that market, partially mitigated by a positive FIFA World Cup; nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 56% of total revenue (2013: 52%).

Gross gaming revenue through mobile/touch grew by 125% to €67.4m (2013: €30.0m) with strong growth across all verticals and planned cost reductions of €30m this year remain on-track with savings of €13.8m achieved in H1.

The group said clean EBITDA of €46.4m (2013: €60.7m) has reduced primarily due to €7.3m of operating losses in New Jersey, reduced domain sales and the loss of Greece. And it says a non-cash impairment charge of €94.7m (2013: nil) against poker-related and certain other intangible assets resulted in a €94.0m loss after tax (2013: loss of €11.6m).

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger "Trading during the first half of 2014 was mixed with a solid performance from sports betting more than offset by year-on-year declines in casino and poker, particularly in countries that were no longer a core area of focus. We are on-track with our current cost saving measures, however it is clear that a more fundamental approach is needed to turnaround our commercial and operational performance.

"This requires a major change: we are simplifying our structure to accelerate the execution of our plans to drive revenue growth, increase our focus on customers in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets, and further reduce infrastructure costs. This new approach will also allow us to consider alternative financing and corporate structures in order to create additional value.

"We are confident that the steps we are taking will underpin our financial performance and remain confident about the full year outlook."

StockMarketWire.com
Kalixa, the payments service provider wholly owned by bwin.party digital entertainment, has announced a 50:50 joint venture with Millicom, a leading international telecommunications and media company dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America and Africa.

The joint venture, which comes just three months after Kalixa acquired the PXP Solutions card payment processing business, represents a significant step in continuing to build externally generated business volume and revenue. The joint venture will develop a payments service provider for Africa and Latin America. Operations are scheduled to begin in Colombia and Brazil later this year with Kalixa and Millicom each making an initial investment of $4m and appointing two directors each to the joint venture's Board. Payment acceptance services will be offered by the joint venture for both businesses and consumers, including payment gateway and point of sale solutions for merchants as well as a one-click payment and eWallet provision for online customers. This end-to-end payment solution will offer cross-platform, multi-device services.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's third quarter revenues were up 2% at €148.7m. And the group says excluding the loss of Greece, total revenue would have increased by 4%.

bwin.party says current trading is in-line with the board's expectations.

Revenue from nationally regulated and/or taxed markets was up 10% year-on-year, representing 56% of total revenue (2013: 53%); revenue from other markets was down 6% year-on-year.

Other key points include: * Sports betting - net revenue up 11% driven by higher gross win margins, mobile growth and the World Cup, partially offset by a later start to European football leagues, 'volume to value' shift and the loss of Greece

* Casino - net revenue down 3% with higher cross-sell from sports offset by a soft poker performance and the loss of Greece

* Poker - net revenue down 25% although there has been sequential growth since the end of July

* Bingo - net revenue down 1% with solid UK performance offset by weakness in Italy

* Other revenue up 64% with strong performances by Kalixa, network services, WPT and InterTrader Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "Our overall revenue performance in the third quarter was in-line with our expectations whilst Clean EBITDA margins have benefited from our previously announced cost savings. We continue to make good progress on expanding our mobile footprint and our presence in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets and we remain confident about the full year outlook.

"Our transition to a label-led organisation structure is well-advanced and we remain on course to achieve our target of €15m of incremental savings next year.

"As we enter the seasonally strong fourth quarter we are continuing to launch a number of new products including the latest version of our mobile sports product that will also include embedded casino games."

Numis comment:
"Today’s 3Q14 IMS contains some welcome good news. Sports betting delivered respectable 11% growth, casino’s decline slowed down and poker has had a couple of months of m/m growth; actual growth. Content is being upgraded and the belated shift to mobile is happening, accounting for 23% of revenue (up from 13%). These are early signs that the new business structure is starting to pay off, in our view, and should help lift sentiment in relation to the company off rock bottom.

We believe that there are three potential upward catalysts for the share price: i) delivery on the stated strategy; ii) the partial or complete break-up of the group; and, iii) leveraging the balance sheet and payment of a special dividend. Today makes it more likely that option i), delivery, is a possibility which has the potential to improve the price at which option ii), break-up, could be delivered if needed. bwin.party is a self-help story which could outperform a tough equity market in our view."

Rumours of a (Canadian) bid coming.

StockMarketWire.com
Following media speculation regarding a possible bid the Board of bwin.party digital entertainment has confirmed that it has entered into preliminary discussions with a number of interested parties.

They comprise a variety of potential business combinations with a view to creating additional value for bwin.party shareholders.

The company says that all such discussions remain at a preliminary stage.

Amery @ 145p.

Bwin.Party In Negotiations With AMAYA and Playtech
AMAYA and Playtech look to acquire bwin.party as negotiations begin between the companies.

http://www.pokerwinners.com/news/industry/bwin-party-in-negotiations-with-amaya-and-playtech

MARKET REPORT (Daily Mail): Odds may be shortening on bid for gambling group Bwin.Party but share price tells a different story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2850709/MARKET-REPORT-Odds-shortening-imminent-agreed-bid-online-gambling-group-Bwin-Party-share-price-telling-different-story.html

Pre-close trading update
Key points
Ø Bet volumes and active player numbers as expected but exceptionally weak gross win
margin in sports betting, particularly in December, has impacted overall revenue
performance in the fourth quarter

Ø Total revenue for 2014 is now expected to be in the range €608m to €612m

Ø On-track to deliver the €30m of cost savings targeted in 2014

Ø Continuing Clean EBITDA[1] margin for 2014 is expected to be between 16% and 17%
including Clean EBITDA losses of approximately €10m from New Jersey and €7m from
social gaming

Ø Discussions with third parties regarding industry consolidation are continuing and
further announcements will be made as and when appropriate

Trading update
In the period since 30 September 2014, trading has been broadly in-line with expectations except for an exceptionally weak gross margin in sports betting with the leading teams in several European leagues enjoying a strong run to the cost of European-facing sports books.

As a result, total revenue for 2014 is now expected to be in the range of €608m to €612m and the Clean EBITDA margin between 16% and 17%.

Discussions with third parties
Further to the announcement made on 12 November 2014, the Group is continuing its discussions with several parties regarding a variety of potential business combinations with a view to creating additional value for bwin.party shareholders. As previously announced, there can be no certainty as to whether or not such discussions will result in an offer being made for the Company. Further announcements will be made as and when appropriate.

Social gaming
We are in active discussions regarding the sale of Win, the Group's social gaming business and expect to make a further announcement shortly.

Full Year Results
The full year results for the year ending 31 December 2014 will be announced on 10 March 2015.

DID FAILED ACQUISITION TALKS DRAG BWIN.PARTY SHARES DOWN?




14th February, 2015 :: 12:29:33

Source: Casinos Online

Share price plummeted 25 percent on Friday.

Bwin.Party shareholders received an unpleasant surprise Friday as the share price plunged 25 percent on the London Exchange following unconfirmed reports that negotiations on a possible acquisition of the FTSE 250 gambling group with an unnamed suitor had failed.

The dramatic drop saw share prices dive to almost GBP 78, although there was some recovery later & the price at close of business was GBP 83.55.

Rumours of an acquisition bid on Bwin.Party, which has been struggling in recent times, have been circulating since late last year, with little concrete & confirmed information surfacing.

Faced with the serious decline in its share price, a Bwin spokesman effectively denied that any negotiations had failed, instead pointing out that stock exchange regulations required the company to issue an announcement if such an event occurred, & thus far no such statement had been made.

Nevertheless, the rumours continued to persist, backed by speculative reports in several publications that acquisition talks had ground to a halt, triggering a sell-off & the consequent drop in share price.

Mystery continues to surround the identity of the would-be suitor with whom Bwin.Party was reportedly talking; most of the speculation pointed to the disparately focused Amaya Gaming & Playtech groups, & even William Hill plc, although the latter is presumably focused at present on its admitted negotiations with 888 Holdings (see previous reports).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11413038/Lord-Green-quits-amid-HSBC-row.html

Lord Green quits amid HSBC row
Lord Green steps down as TheCityUK chairman following allegations over his involvement in illicit Swiss banking at HSBC

Lord Green, the former HSBC chairman, has stepped down from his role as the head of the UK’s national body for financial services, TheCityUK.
He is currently at the centre of a row over HSBC's involvement in illicit Swiss banking a decade ago.
Lord Green was HSBC chairman and chief executive from 2003 to 2010.
A leaked report on Monday revealed that HSBC's Swiss arm had helped 8,844 wealthy Britons avoid millions of pounds in tax.
The allegations of historic tax avoidance at the bank relate to files leaked by whistleblower dating from 2005 to 2007.
13 Feb 2015
Lord Green is stepping down as chairman of TheCityUK's Advisory Council with immediate effect.
His place is being taken by Sir Gerry Grimstone, chairman of the TheCityUK's Board, whose term is about to conclude.
Lord Green's resignation was announced following rumours that theCity's elite was distancing itself from the former financier.
Sir Gerry said, “Stephen Green is a man of great personal integrity who has given huge service to his country and the City.
"He doesn't want to damage the effectiveness of TheCityUK in promoting good governance and doing the right thing so has decided to step aside from chairing our Advisory Council. This is entirely his own decision."

-=-=-=-=-=-

Wonder, if his friend Dodgy Dave will dump him. Mind with Dave's record he would feel safer without is help.

What ?

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenues fell to €611.9m in the year to the end of December - down from €652.4m).

The group said this reflected the full year impact of ISP blocking in Greece and further declines in poker, partially mitigated by the FIFA World Cup. Nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 56% of total revenue (2013: 53%).

Clean earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amoritsation fell to €101.2m from €108.0m. It said this was primarily due to lower revenues and increased start-up losses in the US.

The recommended full year dividend up 5% to 1.89 pence per share (2013: 1.80 pence) making a total FY14 dividend of 3.78 pence per share (2013: 3.60 pence).

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "We have made solid progress this year in growing our share of revenues from nationally regulated and/or taxed markets, increasing our mobile footprint and reducing our cost base. However, the full year impact of ISP blocking in Greece coupled with the structural decline of regulated poker markets in Continental Europe affected our overall financial performance for the year. "Having announced our shift to a label-led approach in August, we are now accelerating our transformation. This programme is already improving our operational effectiveness and customer focus, both of which are key drivers of our long-term financial performance, with particular opportunities flowing from the commercialisation of our technology through our new Studios business unit."

Canaccord note today:
"bwin.party delivered results in line with reduced guidance of December 30th, but flagged disappointingly weak trading into its Q1. However, it confirmed that it has received indicative proposals around potential "business combinations". Revenues fell by 6% to €611.9m (vs guidance €608m to €612m). Ebitda fell 6% to €101.2m (vs guidance €97.3m to €104.0m), with a margin 16.5%, flat YoY. Adjusted EPS fell to 5.9c, which looked light. And net cash (after stripping out customer cash) was also below our expectations, at €34.6m, vs our €41.6m, reflecting higher cash exceptionals and higher acquisition spend. However, the dividend was raised by 5% to 3.78p, providing strong yield support. There were a number of key drivers behind the weak performance, ranging from the forced withdrawal from Greece, accelerating declines in Poker and weak Q4 sports margin. Sports revenues were up only 1%, despite the World Cup boost; Casino was down by 6%, Poker by 29% and Bingo declined 2%.
Looking out to FY15, there will be a number of significant factors driving performance. On the plus side, there are €15m of incremental cost savings coming through (and an expectation that these will be exceeded). But on the negative, there is the impact of German VAT (c.€15) and UK Point of consumption tax (c.€9m). But the key focus this morning will be the acceleration in the rate of decline in revenues in the first 8 weeks of Q1, with total group revenues down by 12%, against the -9% run rate in Q4. Betting volumes were up by a high single digit amount, but a continued weak sports margin meant that Sports revenues were -6%, while Casino was down by 14% (a deterioration from Q4) and Poker by 30%. Management describes this as "broadly in line", but it is weaker than we expected. Given the extent of cost cutting, and product launches, BPTY remains "confident about the full year outlook". However, we are cutting our FY15 Ebitda forecast from €101.3m to €98.7m (consensus c.€103m), driving EPS down by c.12% to c.6.1c. But while current trading disappointed, the yield should provide some support - we assume modest DPS growth in FY15. And management has confirmed that it has received "indicative proposals regarding a variety of possible business combinations" - suggesting progress from the previously disclosed "discussions".
On our revised forecasts, BPTY is trading on a 9.3x FY15 EV/Ebitda and 18.2x PER. That represents a modest discount to the peer group, despite confirmation of ongoing bid/break-up discussions. Clearly, progress with the latter will be key to performance, and while BPTY has consistently under-performed, it has some attractive assets (sports engine, payments business etc). In addition, the dividend yield should provide support (at 4.9% for FY15), albeit it does not look sustainable, given negligible cover.
We reduce our TP from 100p to 92p to reflect the downgrades and stick at HOLD."

thanks harrycat, look forward to the injection ofcash,or full blown take over.
owl directors on board, they are not sitting just for the job.

New Jersey Licence
The Board of bwin.party is pleased to announce that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ('DGE') has awarded each of the Group's wholly-owned subsidiaries, bwin.party entertainment (NJ) LLC and bwin.party (USA) Inc., a Casino Service Industry Enterprise Licence under section 92(a) of the New Jersey Control Act.

as previouse note , I said poker stars may be more interested in b win now awarded
license, in new jersey u s a

GVC Holdings PLC (AIM:GVC), a leading online sports betting and gaming group, notes the recent press speculation and confirms that it has submitted a proposal with a view to the Group acquiring the entire issued and to be issued share capital of bwin.party digital entertainment plc ("bwin.party").

If the proposed transaction were to complete, it would be treated as a reverse takeover due to the size of bwin.party relative to the Company and, in order for the proposed transaction to proceed, it would require, inter alia, the approval of GVC shareholders.

There can be no certainty that the submission of this proposal will lead to the Company being selected as a proposed acquirer of bwin.party or, in turn, completing an acquisition. Further updates will be provided in due course.

StockMarketWire.com
Online gaming group has confirmed it has made a takeover approach for bwin.party digital entertainment.

The company said the board had noted press speculation concerning a possible offer and said it believes that there is significant industrial logic in a combination of 888 and bwin.party.

Due to the size of the proposed transaction, it would require the approval of 888 shareholders. 888 shareholders representing approximately 59% of 888's share capital have irrevocably committed, subject to customary conditions, to vote in favour of the proposed transaction.

888 stresses there can be no certainty that the submission of this proposal will lead to the company being selected as the proposed acquirer of bwin.party or, in turn, completing a transaction. A further update will be provided in due course.

Canaccord note:
"After months of speculation, the buyers are finally queuing up. GVC confirmed on Friday that it has proposed a reverse takeover of bwin.party and 888 has now confirmed that it has proposed an offer comprising cash and shares. BPTY is now in play, and while the trading backdrop remains challenging, there now appears to be a high probability of a contested take-over bid.
The GVC offer has merit. GVC has done an excellent job absorbing the unregulated businesses from Sportingbet, as part of a joint bid with William Hill. GVC shares are up by 250% since it announced the Sportingbet approach in 2012, through a combination of an extremely low price paid and strong execution. BPTY would be a braver move. GVC would be taking over a business 3 times bigger (BPTY’s £830m MV compares with GVC at £221m), and it would be issuing a lot of shares for a business on a much higher valuation (FY16F 10.8x EV/Ebitda, against GVC on 7.2x, and it would have to offer and premium). But we estimate that if the deal was at a 30% premium to Thursday’s close
(i.e. 116p), included 25% in cash (i.e. £190m of debt, or 1.5x pro forma combined FY16 Ebitda), it took out €15m of costs in FY16 (or 10% of GVC’s FY15 cost base) and it was able to sell the Kalixa payments business for €100m, then the combined entity would be on a FY16 EV/Ebitda of 8.5x; it would have high exposure to unregulated markets, but with the promise of tighter cost management and further synergies to drive growth, it would look relatively attractive versus the peer group. And there could be other noncore asset disposals to further reduce the cost. 888, by comparison, would have the advantages of greater scale (£594m MV), a higher rating (at 12.1x EV/Ebitda it is broadly in line with BPTY), and the ability to raise more debt (comfortably over £300m, given existing net cash of $87m). The shareholder structure (two families control 54%) might have been a stumbling block, but they appear to have backed the approach (59% of 888′s shareholders have backed the deal). This appears to put 888 in the driving seat. Impact on the Canaccord Genuity view.
bwin.party will produce a trading update on Thursday, and we expect it to be weak (we see a likely deterioration from the -12% revenue run rate in the first two months), with further downward pressure on our forecasts. However, William Hill’s bid approach for 888 highlighted the attractions of a strong Online Gaming technology platform in a consolidating market, and BPTY offers strong sportsbook, Casino and poker platforms. The GVC and 888 approaches should underpin the share price in the short term and we see potential speculation over other additional interested parties.
Valuation After the rally on Friday, BPTY is on a 2015F PER of 22.6x and EV/Ebitda of 11.5x. This looks relatively expensive given the trading backdrop, but the existence of multiple bidders suggests a materially increased probability of a take-out premium. We raise our TP from 92p to 115p (a 30% premium to Thursday’s close, but a realistic target for any bidder) and move from Hold to BUY, given the rising probability of an attractive take-out offer."

StockMarketWire.com
GVC Holdings has confirmed that its proposal for bwin.party digital entertainment would be jointly financed with Amaya, Inc.

Amaya is the Toronto Stock Exchange listed owner of gaming and related consumer businesses, with brands including PokerStars, Full Tilt and the European Poker Tour and at the close of business on 15 May had a market value of approximately C$4.31bn.

GVC stresses that there can be no certainty that the submission of its proposal will lead to it being selected as a proposed acquirer of bwin.party or, in turn, completing an acquisition.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenues in the first quarter were 6% up on the previous three months but down 6% year-on-year at €155.3m (2014: €165.7m).

Nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 62% of total revenue (2014: 56%); mobile/touch represented 30% of gross gaming revenue (2014: 17%).

The group says cost savings of €15m per annum are on-track for 2015 following completion of its technology integration, the sale of non-core businesses and more efficient, product-led marketing spend.

And it says the non-core asset disposal programme on-course to generate proceeds of between €30m and €50m2 in 2015, in-line with previous guidance.

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "The group has delivered solid growth since Q4 2014 on the back of continued mobile expansion. However, a lower than expected gross win margin in sports betting as experienced by other gaming operators and continued challenges in poker held back our year-on-year revenue performance during the first three months of 2015.

"Despite slightly lower revenue and additional taxes, continued careful management of our costs and further operational efficiencies have meant that Group Clean EBITDA margins for the first quarter are ahead of the Board's expectations and also ahead of last year.

"In the United States, draft legislation is being considered in both California and Pennsylvania. On the back of the strength of our US platform and existing partnerships (that now includes a market access partner in Pennsylvania), we believe that we are well-placed to secure a leading position in each of these markets should a suitable regulatory and fiscal framework be introduced. "We are making good progress in respect of our non-core asset disposals and remain on track to meet the €30-€50m target2 for sale proceeds this year." "In the period since the end of March, net gaming revenues are up 6% year-on-year, driven by sports betting that is up 25% year-on-year. Given our expanding mobile footprint, increased focus on the core business and the associated programme of operational efficiencies, we remain on-track for the full year."

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment has sold its interests in World Poker Tour to Ourgame International Holdings on a debt free/cash-free basis for US$35m, payable in cash.

Ourgame is a fast-growing Hong Kong-listed social gaming company with interests across Asia and a market capitalisation of approximately HK$5.7 billion (US$733m).

Under the terms of the transaction, bwin.party will continue to sponsor various WPT events and television shows in both the United States and Europe until 31 December 2016.

In addition, bwin.party also has a right of first refusal over such additional sponsorship opportunities that may become available until 31 December 2016. Having been acquired in September 2009 for US$12.3m, in the year to 31 December 2014, World Poker Tour reported total revenue of $10.4m and a loss at the Clean EBITDA level of $4.1m.

Chief financial officer Martin Weigold said: "Over the past six years we have built WPT into a global franchise, with tournaments and TV deals in many countries including Asia where poker remains a popular and growing sport. However, consistent with our strategy of divesting our non-core assets, we believe that now is the right time to release that value for shareholders so that we can focus our efforts on our core real money gaming and technology business."

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's gaming revenue in the three months to 30 June was in-line with its expectations and the board remains confident in the full year outlook.

The group says sports turnover was ahead of plan although sports gross win margins were below normalised levels.

Mobile/touch has continued to grow strongly: in June 2015 mobile/touch represented (31%) of total gross gaming revenue (June 2014: 23%) with sports betting at over 50% (June 2014: 37%). The group says non-core asset disposals have already realised over €36m, in-line with its target of €30m to €50m.

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "Despite challenging comparatives together with the impact of EU VAT and POC tax, we are pleased with our business performance in the first half. We have completed our new organisational set-up and streamlined our decision-making processes, significantly improving our operational performance.

"Sports volumes are ahead of last year despite the 2014 World Cup, although poor sporting results drove gross win margins lower, holding back revenue performance in the period. Casino betting volumes have also remained strong and in poker we are closing the gap on last year. Our bingo revenue was in-line with last year but our UK business now attracts the POC tax that was introduced in December 2014.

"We have made good progress on the disposal of our non-core assets with World Poker Tour, Winners2 and United Games all sold during the second quarter and we have already reached our target range of €30m to €50m of disposal proceeds. As well as generating cash, these disposals are also helping us to reduce the complexity within our business.

"Our shift to a label-led structure is delivering the operational efficiencies we anticipated and we are on course to generate cost savings of at least €15m this year.

"We remain confident about the prospects for the second half and the outlook for our business."

GVC Holdings PLC

Offer discussions with bwin.party digital entertainment plc ("bwin.party")

GVC notes today's announcement made by bwin.party and confirms that it has made a proposal to acquire all of the outstanding and to be issued share capital of bwin.party at a price of 110 pence per bwin.party share, comprised of a combination of new GVC shares and cash. GVC looks forward to working with bwin.party and its advisers with a view to securing acceptance of its proposal and, in turn, making an offer to bwin.party shareholders.

There can be no certainty that an offer for bwin.party will be made. GVC will provide a further update for shareholders as and when appropriate.

Kenneth Alexander, Chief Executive of GVC Holdings plc, said: "Any offer made by GVC for bwin.party would include part of the consideration in new GVC shares. Based on our experience with the successful Sportingbet acquisition and restructuring, we believe that the potential combination of GVC and bwin.party would result in substantial financial and operating synergies and represent an excellent opportunity for both GVC and bwin.party shareholders."
For further information:

GVC Holdings PLC
Kenneth Alexander, Chief Executive
Tel: +44 (0) 1624 652 559
Richard Cooper, Group Finance Director
www.gvc-plc.com

"888 and Bwin have announced they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended offer, whereby 888 will pay 104.09p per share (lower than the GVC offer of 110p per share) to acquire the entire issued share capital of Bwin. Bwin shareholders will receive 39.45p in cash and 0.404 888 shares (with a mix and match facility available). Synergies are estimated to be on less than $70m (by 2018) and the acquisition is anticipated to be EPS enhancing in year one. Following today's acquisition we upgrade 888 from Sell to Hold and increase our target price to 150p (from 96p)."

reliable source, bid total cost £i.4 bn = £ 1 .17 of equity /cash b win shares are
worth ends BB

gvc shares @ 400 x .231 = 92 cash 25p =total 117p for every bwin ord as previous BB