PartyGaming May Acquire Rival Empire Online

PartyGaming announced today that it is in the preliminary deal-making stages for the acquisition of rival Empire Online.

The companies maintained a partnership for some time before PartyGaming's announcement in October that it would no longer allow players to log on and play with members of the PartyPoker.com gaming platform through the "skin" site.

There is no word yet on how much PartyGaming intends to offer Empire Online. Less than two months ago, larger Party Gaming rival, Sportingbet PLC (owners of poker site Paradise Poker) was on the buying end of an anticipated $1.4 billion deal with Empire that eventually fell through. In the past two months, Empire's stock has dropped 60 percent.

Still, the deal is in the early stages, and the statements released today by PartyGaming were mostly in response to media speculation over the deal.

"There can be no certainty that any agreement will be reached or that any offer will be forthcoming or as to the terms of any such offer. Any offer proposal would depend upon, in particular, PartyGaming being satisfied as to a number of material preconditions, including due diligence and the prospects for Empire's business," PartyGaming said in a statement published on its website today.

"The terms of any offer will be determined by the outcome of the due diligence process, which is ongoing," the statement continued.

"A further announcement will be made when appropriate."

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