Shuffle Master / Ongame Deal Off

Wednesday June 27,2012 : SHOCK WITHDRAWAL FROM ONGAME SALE BY SHUFFLE MASTER (Update)
 
Reasons as yet unclear for unexpected withdrawal from Ongame acquisition deal.
 
In March this year the US casino equipment supplier Shuffle Master proudly announced that it had inked a Euro 19.5 million agreement to purchase Ongame Network, Ltd., a 25-brand online poker network owned by Bwin Interactive.
 
Just this month executives at Bally Technologies, Shuffle Master and Ongame Networks were publicly ‘thrilled' at the prospect of jointly developing a poker and iGaming platform that would insert Ongame's poker content interface onto Bally's iGaming platform.
 
Today (Wednesday) that dream was shattered by a terse stock exchange announcement from Bwin.Party digital entertainment that the deal was off, and that other potential purchasers were again being approached.
 
No reasons for the withdrawal were given.
 
The Bwin.Party advisory notes that the withdrawal is by mutual agreement.
 
"The sale of surplus assets, including Ongame, remains a core part of Bwin.party’s strategy," the notification reiterates "Bwin.party is re-engaging with other third parties that have expressed an interest in acquiring Ongame.  Bwin.party will make a further announcement as and when appropriate."