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Shadow cast on Partygaming sale

The sale of shares in online gambling group Partygaming has been overshadowed by fears that the group could fall foul of US laws.
The firm is set to be valued at between £4.4bn and £5.1bn when it debuts in London on 27 June, the biggest UK flotation in more than four years.

The firm has been warned its owners could face prosecution in the US, according to a Guardian report.

Partygaming insists that its services do not contravene any specific US law.

"No warning naming Partygaming or its founders has been issued by federal prosecutors," a spokesman for the firm said.

However, fears persist that uncertainty could deter investors from buying shares, forcing the price lower.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4098900.stm

 

[gdurni]

do you know who is underwriting the deal? this will probably tell you if there really is a liability or not involved in the IPO.

 

[Rubber Duck]

Shadow cast on Partygaming sale

The sale of shares in online gambling group Partygaming has been overshadowed by fears that the group could fall foul of US laws.
The firm is set to be valued at between £4.4bn and £5.1bn when it debuts in London on 27 June, the biggest UK flotation in more than four years.

The firm has been warned its owners could face prosecution in the US, according to a Guardian report.

Partygaming insists that its services do not contravene any specific US law.

"No warning naming Partygaming or its founders has been issued by federal prosecutors," a spokesman for the firm said.

However, fears persist that uncertainty could deter investors from buying shares, forcing the price lower.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4098900.stm

I have to say that I am not a big fan of Online Gambling, as it is preditory against the weak and feable and removes the only redeeming aspect to gambling which can be social interaction.

However, all of this seems to be about as workable as King Canute holding back the tides, or the prohibition of alcohol!

If the Federal Government cannot get a handle on physical smuggling of people and narcotics, or spam email how can they really do much about this.

As for individual States trying to impose a clamp down, well I am just incredulous. It would seem that it is just Politicians and Bureacrats suffering delusions of grandeur. Even if the Federal Government made it a major priority to clamp down on Online Gambling, it would seem doubtful that they could achieve such an objective. If they did it would put them on par with the Great Fire Wall of China, which is surely a political Faux Pas, as it very much in the commercial interest of Blue Chip US companies to have such restrictions removed.

Even then they could not really sort it out without the cooperation of instituions such as ICANN, unless they come clean and show the world the the Internet is really just a US institution. Don't think they could really afford to go there. Also it would seem that there are far more critical issues to address at WTO, so getting mired in pointless skirmishes there would be an unwelcome distraction.

Does anyone else have an view of technical points to air on this?

Best Regards
Dave Wrixon