PartyGaming founders who had hoped to add more wealth to their already bulging bank accounts thanks to the success of PartyPoker.com sold about five-percent of the company's shares last week, and the market didn't much like it.
The sale, performed by Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Limited (DKWL), dropped PartyGaming shares by about 4 percent. DKWL sold the shares at 116 pence, which was price the shares were initially sold for when the company first floated last year.
Shares have been as low as 69.44 pence (Oct. 9).
DKWL sold the shares for founders Vikrant Bhargava, Anurag Dikshit Ruth Parasol and Russell DeLeon, who are married
PartyGaming shares have steadily fallen since May 18, when shares on the London Stock Exchange closed at 141.25 pence. Shares were as high as 155 pence May 1.
Shares dropped a full 8.5 pence May 23, when PartyGaming announced that Bhargava and Dikshit would step down from the Board of Directors. Dikshit is staying with the company as the head of Research and Special Projects, but Bhargava, the company's group marketing director, will leave PartyGaming by the end of the year.
Last week's stock sale raised also less than what was expected. The founders planned to float 350 million shares, but reduced that number to 200 million. Also, the founders were hoping to get at least 119 pence for the shares. Still, the sale was worth nearly £232 million.
The sale gave Dikshit about £66 million and he still retains almost 30 percent of the company. Bhargava earned £77 million through the sale and still retains about 7 percent of PartyGaming. Parasol and DeLeon made about £38 each from the sale. They each retain about 15 percent of PartyGaming.
