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With news announced Tuesday that PartyGaming had entered into a settlement agreement with the US Government to avoid future prosecution, one cannot help but question if co-founder, Anurag Dikshit, made a major mistake in settling months previous.
As part of Party's settlement agreement, they will have to fork over $105m in half-yearly installments by September 2012. Dikshit on the other hand must pay a fine of $300m while facing some jail time.
Do the math!
Jim Ryan, chief executive, said the deal marked an "important day" for PartyGaming and that it had been a "long and complex process". "We are now well placed to seize organic as well as strategic opportunities that previously were beyond our reach," he added.
City analysts welcomed the deal, with some saying the settlement was better than expected in terms of size and payment structure. Share prices rose 16 percent by late morning and this helped just start other online gambling sector stocks as well. 888 was up 8 percent to 97.25 pence and Sportingbet rising 10 percent to 45.75 pence.
"The non-prosecution deal looks like a good one for Party with the fee of $105m spread over four years being below our expectations ($150m)," said Nick Batram at KBC Peel Hunt. "Party can now put the US issues behind them and start the fight-back against the US-facing poker rooms via consolidation."
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
