Friday, December 29, 2006

Noam Lanir, owner of the Empire Online, will sell his remaining shares in
the gambling company to rival PartyGaming for USD 40 million. A year and a
half after the company was put up on the London Stock Exchange, Lanir seems
to be heading out of the gambling business. Lanir will use revenues from the
sale of Empire, which total USD 300 million, to invest in real estate. The
sale deal with PartyGambling, the world's largest operator of gambling Web
sites, is expected to be finalized by the end of the week. Experts said
Lanir's decision is a signal that the two remaining Israeli online gambling
companies traded on the London Stock Exchange, 888.com and Playtech, will be
selling their shares in the future over US law banning online gambling. The
US Senate approved a the law on September 29, making it illegal for US
banks, credit card and companies to make transactions carried out in the US
to online gambling companies. Empire was worth USD 928 million when first
traded in London, but its shared fell significantly in recent months. The
company is estimated at USD 244 million today after its shares fell by 80
percent.