Online Casino Operator bwin Moves Into Italian Market
Online casino operator bwin announced Monday it is preparing to close a deal to acquire Gioco Digitale, an Italian online gambling operator offering poker and sports betting. The move allows bwin quick access into the Italian gaming market, which many expect to soon be expanding in opportunity. Officials at bwin say a law being implemented in the next couple months will allow games of chance and poker cash games to be added to poker tournaments and sports betting for legal online play in Italy.
It had been reported last week by Italian news media that a private investor had purchased more than ten percent of Gioco. The price was supposedly almost three million dollars.
Now bwin says talks to acquire the full one hundred percent of the Italian gambling company may be completed any day now. Estimates of the cost of he entire purchase put the value much higher than the partial sale, possibly as high as $143 million.
Still gaming analysts reacted positively to the acquisition by the Internet casino company, as stock prices for bwin were up seven percent. Gioco's share of the Italian online poker market is estimated at 20 percent, raising bwin's market share to almost 30 percent.
