Austrian gambling company BetandWin announced this Friday it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Ongame, a Swedish software company that owns PokerRoom.com, regarding a possible takeover for an estimated $500 million. If successful the takeover would make BetandWin the second largest online gaming company after PartyGaming.
BetandWin is an Austrian sportsbetting company that is publicly listed on the Vienna stock exchange (BWIN) since March 27, 2000. The company's share price has risen from EUR 14.13 in closing last year to EUR 72.70 to date, an increase of more than 500%. Third quarter results for 2005 showed a profit after tax of EUR 1.2 million, up more than EUR 2 million compared to the loss it made in last year's third quarter.
OnGame is a privately owned Swedish software firm setup by Oskar Hörnell and Claes Lidell, two former professional blackjack and poker players. OnGame's most treasured asset is PokerRoom.com, currently the world's third largest online poker website.
BetandWin has a large share of the European sportsbetting market, but is not very strong in the US and Canada, a market where the majority of OnGame's PokerRoom.com customers are located.
Though both companies are still in the preliminary stages of the takeover talks, and it's not certain yet if and when a final agreement will be reached, a successful takeover would make BetandWin the second largest online gambling company after PartyGaming, bigger than SportingBet PLC, the current number two.