Amaya Gaming and Playtech have been reported to have opened early stage partnership and potential takeover talks with the operator bwin.party this week.
A statement released by bwin.party confirmed that the company was in first phase talks “with a number of interested parties regarding a variety of potential business combinations with a view to creating additional value for bwin.party shareholders”.
Shares in bwin.party experienced a huge 10.5% increase in a single afternoon after reports suggested Playtech and Amaya Gaming were two of the companies involved in those talks. This share price increase saw the company’s market value rise to a meteoric £1.1 billion, which equates to $1.74 billion or €1.39 billion.
Amaya Gaming has been an influential name in the online casino industry having already purchased online slots developer Cryptologic in 2012 and recently acquired PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker after a takeover deal was completed with The Rational Group earlier this year.
Playtech has been strongly linked with a potential takeover deal of bwin.party after Playtech revealed that it had raised funds to carry out acquisitions and take advantage of any potential “organic opportunities” within the market.
It has also been reported that Playtech is keen to enter into the lucrative sportsbetting market with a potential takeover of bwin.party offering the perfect opportunity for the company to invade a market that it has yet to gain a foothold in.