Playtech mystery contract

[jetset]

MYSTERY ONLINE GAMBLING CONTRACT FOR PLAYTECH

Gambling software provider signs up anonymous Asian licensee

Industry observers were speculating on the identity of a mystery Asian-facing online gambling licensee as the week closed, following a statement to the London stock exchange by industry software developer Playtech.

In the statement, Playtech revealed that it has signed up what it describes as a “significant” Asian-facing licensee – but could not release the identity of the mystery company due to “reasons of confidentiality”.

The statement did say that Playtech is to provide the unidentified operator with new Asian-focused peer-to-peer games, and claimed that the new licensee has a “strong and diversified presence in the Asia-Pacific region."

The contract is “material to the future profitability” of the firm and Playtech announced that it is “expected to become earnings enhancing during the second quarter of 2008”.

Playtech CEO Mor Weizer said: “This is a significant new business win for Playtech and comes after lengthy contract formalities with the licensee.” He added that the scale of the operator and its large client base would make it a “very valuable addition” to the Playtech stable.

“The additional tools and features that we have developed for this operator will further strengthen Playtech’s market-leading position in the vast Asia-Pacific market," Weizer said. "This licensee has deep-rooted experience and market reach and we foresee additional benefits for Playtech, particularly for our new Asia-facing games which we start rolling out over the next two quarters.”

[uungy]

This sounds like a company who is already on the market with software, but is hiding it from their original provider

[jetset]

MORE DETAIL ON PLAYTECH DEAL (Update)

Further to our earlier InfoPowa report on the mystery Asian deal announced to the London stock exchange today (Friday) by online gambling software developer Playtech plc, it has been confirmed that the contract is to run for 3 years initially.

According to Reuters, poker and specialist player-to-player games will be supplied to one of Asia's largest online gaming firms, the identity of which remains confidential at the request of the client.

Playtech CEO Mor Weizer told Reuters that the deal would significantly enhance earnings during the second quarter of 2008.

"I have seen some [analyst] estimates with which we feel confident that it [the deal] will be worth $4-5 million in revenue in 2008," he said.

News of the deal pushed shares in the Isle of Man based company up by 4 percent to 376 pence, a further advance on the 9 percent increase in stock price over the past 2 months. The firm is now valued at around GBP 800 million.

Malaysia, Macau, Philippines, Cambodia, Korea, Vietnam, Laos Singapore and Japan all allow some forms of online gambling, while China's government is expected to gradually allow new avenues for gaming.

Weizer said under the new deal Playtech would provide Asian game favourites Do-Di-Zhu, Cho-Da-Di and 13-card Poker and add more games through next year.

He added Playtech was still looking to buy up rivals to bolster its position as an industry leader. "Acquisitions remain a target for us ... We are moving forward with that and analysing the market."

[wangpoker]

This sounds like a company who is already on the market with software, but is hiding it from their original provider

yishengbo, 777 ball and other asian sportsbooks have launched these games for months.