<TABLE height=291 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PartyGaming expected to surpass IPO valuation [/font]</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PartyGaming’s IPO is reportedly heavily oversubscribed and the firm is expected to comfortably make its US$8.5bn valuation despite reports of investor anxieties. [/font]</TD></TR><TR><TD height=17>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Institutional investors have dismissed concerns over US regulatory issues, and the firm is believed to have cut short its institutional road show due to the demand.
Initial trading in the firm is set to start on Monday, with full dealing expected to start on 30 June.
The news is in stark contrast to previous reports it would be forced to dramatically cut its price, and will be a huge boost to other poker firms looking at listing this year.
Several of the largest US-facing poker firms, including Pokerroom, UltimateBet and PokerStars, are believed to be considering a listing on the London Stock Exchange.
Empire Online, the owner of Empire Poker, has already gone public in a US$900m IPO in mid-June.
But rumours investors were demanding a heavy discount on the PartyGaming IPO based on regulatory risk caused its share price to fall in its first day of trading.
Shares in Empire dipped as low as 149p from the initial listing price of 175p, knocking more than £70m off the valuation of the firm.
The firm is currently trading at 171p, slightly below its initial listed price.
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://www.egrmagazine.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?section=3&id=820&action=display
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Initial trading in the firm is set to start on Monday, with full dealing expected to start on 30 June.
The news is in stark contrast to previous reports it would be forced to dramatically cut its price, and will be a huge boost to other poker firms looking at listing this year.
Several of the largest US-facing poker firms, including Pokerroom, UltimateBet and PokerStars, are believed to be considering a listing on the London Stock Exchange.
Empire Online, the owner of Empire Poker, has already gone public in a US$900m IPO in mid-June.
But rumours investors were demanding a heavy discount on the PartyGaming IPO based on regulatory risk caused its share price to fall in its first day of trading.
Shares in Empire dipped as low as 149p from the initial listing price of 175p, knocking more than £70m off the valuation of the firm.
The firm is currently trading at 171p, slightly below its initial listed price.
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://www.egrmagazine.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?section=3&id=820&action=display
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