“In the future, only a few large online gaming companies will exist,” 888 Holding plc (LSE:888) co-founder and Random Logic CEO Shai Ben Yitzhak once predicted in a rare interview. He was presumably believes that 888 Holding, which operates the world’s largest online casino site, will be one of these companies, and that acquisitions will help it become of the largest online gaming companies in the world.
888 Holding CEO John Anderson, a Scot, also once said that consolidation would play a key role in the online gaming industry in the coming years, and that 888 Holding would play a major role in this consolidation. The company’s current market cap is $1.24 billion.
On Friday, Anderson raised the stakes when he told "The Times" correspondent Dominic Walsh that the company planned to acquires an online sports betting site later this year. He told "The Times", “I’m looking, but I’m not talking to anyone at the moment,” he said, adding that he was looking at Asia rather than the United States. “In terms of a sports book, the one thing I will not be doing is taking bets from American citizens in America, because that’s illegal under the Wire Act.”
In the interview, Anderson mentioned 888 Holdings’ main rival, PartyGaming plc (LSE:PRTY). “The Times” reported that he shrugged off claims by PartyGaming that the recent launch of blackjack meant it had overtaken 888 as the world’s biggest Internet casino. “I don’t go around saying mine’s the biggest.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 5, 2006