Paradise goes private

[Nate tha\\\' Great]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=ak6WlQGj74q4&refer=uk

Sportingbet Sells U.S. Operations as Web Gambling Ban Nears

By Michael Nol

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Sportingbet Plc, the owner of Paradise Poker, said it sold its operations in the U.S., where lawmakers are preparing to ban Internet gambling.

Jazette Enterprises Ltd. bought the company's U.S. sports betting and casino operations for $1, London-based Sportingbet said in an e-mailed statement today. The sale relieves Sportingbet of $13.2 million in liabilities.

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General note: the next 12-24 hours are going to be pretty crazy until the law goes into effect. I would be surprised if there is any change of plans from any of the more important pillars in the business (e.g. Party, FTP, Stars, Neteller). But virtually anything is possible, and I'd expect a fair bit of good, bad, and indifferent news. Fortunately, things should settle down significantly after that.

[Nate tha\\\' Great]

EDIT: from the other link posted, it looks like Sportingbet is keeping Paradise Poker. Thus, we will probably not be able to play there.

[uncleshady]

I feel like Im watching Rome burn.

[Tofu_boy]

bough for $1 ???
This is a Joke.
I'm sure it'll be alot of interesting news for the next 12hrs.

[smashoneout]

Damn, I'd have bid $2!

[crzylgs]

[ QUOTE ]
Damn, I'd have bid $2!

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd have bid -$13 million.

[HumanACtor]

[ QUOTE ]
I feel like Im watching Rome burn.

[/ QUOTE ]

I feel like John Connor at the end of T3.

[gonebroke]

[ QUOTE ]
bough for $1 ???
This is a Joke.
I'm sure it'll be alot of interesting news for the next 12hrs.

[/ QUOTE ]

They sold it for 1 buck, but along with the sale is 13 million dollars worth of liabilities. In other words, the company who bought it owes 13 million to their players (customers) that came with the purchase. However, they are banking on the fact that the 13 million will be lost and a hell of a lot more. As an ex-degenerate gambler, that seems like a certainty.

[Greg Miller]

The interesting bit is that they've said nothing about the Paradise skins and whether they'll ban U.S. players, allow U.S. players, or allow U.S. players on separate tables from Paradise. That was my first question when I saw that sportsbook.com and aces.com had been sold, since there's an aces.com Paradise skin.

[Shank]

Anybody else have a sneaking suspicion that Jazette Enterprises Ltd. may be connected to founders or management?

A Plc only needs Board approval to sell a portion of its business, and if founders / management exercise enough control at that level such a transaction would be a simple thing to pull off. Would certainly explain why this sale happened so fast, and would also explain Sportingbet's 180 turn from previously blatantly defying the Wire Act to suddenly being scared of legislation that doesn't expose them to much more risk than before.

[ottsville]

My guess would be that they are seperating the sportsbook from the poker in the US. Jazette is probably a holding company owned by the same people.