“Will PartyGaming's flotation bring Respectability to Online Gambling?”

In its declaration to make a flotation in late June on the Stock Exchange in London, PartyGaming, an Internet gambling portal based in Gibraltar, could possibly be. The company is evaluated at the vast sum of five point eight billion pounds, and if it will succeed, it will be the greatest floatation of its type in London since the bookmaker William Hill made a public offer three years ago. The company’s founders, Ruth Parasol, Russ DeLeon, Amurag Dikshit and Vikrant Bhargava might easily turn into billionaires with the company’s flotation. Graduates of one of India’s best universities, namely, the Indian Institute of Technology, Dikshit and Bhargava respectively own fourteen percent of the company’s shares and have ownership of forty two percent of the company. Russ DeLeon owns twenty percent as does his wife Ruth Parasol, who originally worked in the industry of adult entertainment. At least two billion British pounds will be Dikshit’s percentage yield if the floatation will be successful.

Setting itself up in Gibraltar for tax benefits, PartyGaming, ever since its establishment, has seen annual profits every year successively. The company had a turnover of more than 222.6 million dollars in only its first quarter. An eight billion dollar flotation on the Financial Times Stock Exchange means that the company outranks Boots or British Airways in value. More than fifty percent of the world’s online poker market is in the hands of PartyGaming, so the company states, and at high seasons its website PartyPoker has up to sixty five thousand players accessing it. The Nielsen/Net rating reports that in comparison to the previous year, Internet gambling in the United Kingdom has risen forty five percent, with Internet gambling sites in February being accessed by some three point two million players.

PartyGaming aims at shaping an ambience of lawfulness and standing by its flotation on the London Stock Exchange which the online industry seems to be short of. The identical attitude has been adopted by other online gambling companies. For instance, 888Casino.com, a Gibraltar based online gaming company has also declared its London Stock Exchange flotation plans. In order to obtain a reviewed strategic plan 888Casino.com has enrolled the assistance of Credit Suisse First Boston and the target date is the end of the year for the 888Casino.com flotation.

The company Dresdner Kleenwat Wasserstein will act as PartyGaming’s world coordinator, book runner and sponsor. In order to help Dresdner Kleenwat Wasserstein in its operation the company intends to utilize additional banks too.

Ireland is experiencing the impact of Internet gaming explosion too, as is testified to by statistics issued at the beginning of this year by Paddy Power, an Irish bookmaker. Peak rises were demonstrated by Paddy Power in operating profit, earnings per share for the year 2005 and turnover. In addition to its land-based betting company in Ireland, the online betting company, Victor Chandler, lately established its betting services for tax free in the country.