PartyGaming and Austrian firm bwin are merging to create the world's biggest online gaming company.
The combined group – with revenues of 682m euros (£571m) last year – will be the biggest player in poker, casino, sports betting and bingo.
The deal, announced yesterday, is expected to kick-start a wave of consolidation in the sector as the new c
ompany looks to make acquisitions among around 2,000 gaming websites currently operating.
The new business will be 48.4 per cent owned by PartyGaming and 51.6 per cent by bwin investors, and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Bwin boss Norbert Teufelberger, who will be joint chief executive along with PartyGaming's Jim Ryan, said: "We will be in pole position to capitalise on the wealth of opportunities that will flow from the continued evolution and expansion of the global online gaming industry."
The merger could also see PartyGaming return to the United States market for the first time since 2006, when authorities passed legislation preventing the transfer of funds to gambling sites.
Party – whose origins were in poker through the Party Poker website – pulled out of the US along with a host of other firms and made up for declining poker revenues by growing gaming revenues elsewhere.
Its two biggest markets are now the UK and Germany. Bwin has more than 20 million customers in 25 main markets.
