Anyone Wants to Buy a Casino?

While the industry is shifting from the United States to Europe, driven by the ban on gambling in the former and the legal embrace in the latter, some are making the reverse trip. Gibraltar based online casino company PartyGaming has announced it is open to offers to be bought, by a Las Vegas casino, no less.

The company's CEO, Mitch Garber, has made the announcement in Barcelona, during the EIG2007 iGaming conference. While the occasion he chose re-enforces the significance and major role that such events and conferences have. More significant is the preferred choice of buyers, namely a major Las Vegas casino.

At its peak days, which unsurprisingly correlated with the industry's heyday, the company made almost $10 billion. Then came the UIGEA and the company had to leave the American market, which is relied on largely. It currently brings in (only) around $2.5 billion. At the same time, the focus has become global, which Mr. Garber believes could be a draw, especially for American casinos who would not want to lag behind.

It should be mentioned, and surely no buyer would miss out on this important fact, that PartyGaming is currently holding talks with the US Department of Justice. It is even expected that they will end up paying a fine, much like the one that Neteller has paid recently, though the amount of which is yet unknown; Neteller paid $136 million.

Alongside the global business horizon that the company offers any buyer, American or other, there is still a chance that the state of gambling will change in the US. This depends largely on the IGREA bill, Rep. Barney Frank's initiative.