partygaming....has gone public

[KidKanuck 0]

just an FYI for anyone who cares.(if it hasn't already been posted...if so I apologise)they floated on the London Stock Exchange I believe the company was valued at 6 billion....not bad.on a side note I won 25 bucks at Party last night. :-) KK

[KidKanuck 0]

By Steve Slater LONDON (Reuters) - Monday's flotation of online casino PartyGaming has made more than $1 billion for a former U.S. pornography entrepreneur, her lawyer husband and two Indian technology graduates. The four brains behind the world's biggest online poker operator, which was founded just eight years ago, will cash in shares worth about $1.4 billion in total in the initial public offering, and keep stakes worth over $6 billion at current valuations. For details of the IPO click on . But the windfall does not come without risk. PartyGaming's listing prospectus said its directors risk jail if U.S. moves to clamp down on online gaming are successful, resulting in potential criminal or civil action. "If successful, such actions may result in remedies such as injunctions ... fines and imprisonment," the prospectus said. Founder Ruth Parasol is no longer a director of the company but she is no stranger to controversy. She made her fortune originally from running premium rate adult chat lines and adult entertainment Web Sites, before turning her back on the industry and switching to online gaming in 1997. Parasol and her husband Russell de Leon, both lawyers, are each set to cash in around $370 million and still own a combined stake worth about $2.7 billion. Parasol and de Leon now act as legal consultants to the Gibraltar-based company. Anurag Dikshit, group operations director, is the biggest shareholder. He will cash in shares worth about $720 million and still own a 30 percent stake worth over $2.6 billion. Marketing director Vikrant Bhargava's remaining 9 percent stake and cash from the IPO should be worth almost $1 billion. The four major shareholders, all in their 30s, are famously publicity shy, despite being thrust into the limelight by the flotation. None gave interviews for the roadshow and only one of them has made a press photo available. Dikshit was the driving force behind developing PartyGaming's user-friendly platforms, which attract more online poker players than all rival sites combined. Bhargava masterminded the strategy for pulling in players to PartyGaming's sites, like PartyPoker.com. Ads on hundreds of taxis, billboards and television around the world are testimony to the importance of advertising in the competitive industry.Dikshit and Bhargava, who met at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, marketed the business aggressively from its early days -- including the launch in August 2001 of PartyPoker, its main Web Site. One hugely successful move was the launch of a global tournament, where players compete online before finalists meet on a cruise and the winner takes home as much as from big casino competitions. This year the winner scooped $1.5 million. Both men are expected to remain with the company. Dikshit's brother-in-law, Nitin Jain, PartyGaming's technology director, has a 1.1 percent stake worth about $100 million. The four major shareholders, who have agreed not to sell down their remaining 70 percent stake for at least a year, should also share annual dividends of over $200 million. STAFF WINDFALL Executives, staff and banking advisers have also done well from the flotation, which has been dogged by worries about the legality of online gaming in the United States but was priced within its expected range as investors were attracted by the surging popularity of online poker playing. PartyGaming, which does not take a risk in the game but takes a "rake" of the pot, now reaps a profit of almost $1,000 every minute as it pulls in revenue of $100,000 every hour of the day. Up to 70,000 people play simultaneously on its sites. Management and employees have been awarded options worth about 5 percent of the company as part of the IPO, on average worth 2-3 years' salary for the firm's 1,100 employees. Richard Segal, the chief executive who joined less than a year ago from the Odeon cinema chain, will have shares and options representing about 1 percent, worth about $90 million. Investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein is also set to earn the bulk of up to $61 million expected to be paid to the IPO advisers.

[Marc-O 0]

interesting....

[Socrates 0]

Yeah. There's a good investment.In all seriousness though. It is a great idea in terms of making themselves money. While most anyone with common sense will stay away from these stocks, they will get enough idiots to pony up the funds to drive it for a while.

[bdams19 0]

If I lived in europe I would buy it

[psujohn 0]

Anurag censored, group operations director

Gotta love it when the swear buster goes wild.I wonder what effect this will have on the legality of online poker in the US. I expect that it'll push the issue at least. My state tried - and failed - to legalize slots to generate tax revenue. Why not have the state legalize online gambling and take a cut. Why would you consider this a bad investment? Aside from their legal questions - I can see the Bush administration making it illegal to own the stock - they seem to be a good business. They're making money by the truckload, their costs are low and they should have decent growth potential.I like that fact that the article thinks Party has a good interface. If pretty much any other site had Party's fish I'd switch in an instant.