Playtech has acquired a stake in Zeda Poker


Wednesday, May 2,2012 : PLAYTECH AND ONLINE POKER
 
Big plans and wide interests….
 
Reports on Scoop suggest that Playtech has acquired a stake in Zeda Poker, a business-to-consumer social site powered by Viaden Gaming and probably part of the 20 percent interest that Playtech has bought in the software provider.
 
The deals in Playtech's Euro 95 million drive into the social gaming sector are also believed to involve Teddy Sagi associated companies CTXM and Slots Farm, along with a 20 percent stake in Viaden. Sagi is the major shareholder in Playtech.
 
The deals mean that both Viaden and CTXM will be able to shift focus to social and mobile development however, in a new development this week, Playtech has announced that instead of purchasing the assets outright from Sagi, it will instead licence same.
 
"Playtech remains committed and excited about the prospects for the impact of entering into the social gaming arena and believes it will aid the company's growth in the future," a spokesman said Wednesday.
 
"However, the complexity around the process and timing with respect to the company's move to the Main Market has influenced this decision. The licence agreement for the social and real money gaming assets will be negotiated on arm's length terms and will be announced as soon as is reasonably practicable."
 
There has also been speculation that Playtech may be connected with a new-ish social poker product branded Soda Poker which launched in March this year.
 
Observers who have studied the software behind Soda Poker claim it is almost identical in appearance to Calshark, the free-play dot.com poker site launched by the California Online Poker Association (COPA) in October last year, which went live with software provided by Playtech and “supported by” SciPlay, the joint venture company formed in January 2010 between Playtech and Scientific Games.
 
Soda Poker is reportedly owned by Cmedia, a major online gambling publishing company based in Barcelona, Spain.