ORBIS TAKES OVER ELECTRACADE

12 December 2008

Acquisition by UK gambling software provider cost GBP 2.6 million in cash

 

The UK-based online gambling software provider Orbis Technology has acquired Internet games developer Electracade Limited in a GBP 2.6 million cash deal, with provision for further payments contingent on the future performance of the company.

David Loveday, managing director of Orbis, said: “Electracade has been a partner of ours for four years since it started out and we felt the time was right to expand our content offering. Their strength comes from game play and understanding player requirements, and with our strength in game design it will make us more competitive. They bring new customers and will allow us to work with a broad range of technical platform providers.”

Electracade had a solid track record in building games for third parties, a business Orbis was very interested in getting into, Loveday added.

“The agreement is very good for us as it allows us to work with new partners in a truly open environment. Content should be completely open and you should be able to run any game from any provider on any platform. Operators want to be able to run content from a wide range of providers to offer to their customers and we provide the technology to enable that.”

Electracade was set up four years ago by Mark Paling, and the company has established a portfolio of innovative and compelling games, used by leading names in the industry such as 888.com.

The acquisition means that Electracade with join Orbis in the Nasdaq and London-listed NDS Group of companies, a corporation headed by Dr. Abe Peled with a market capitalisation of some $2.8 billion. NDS is in turn owned by News Corporation.

NDS is expected to give up its Nasdaq listing and be taken into private ownership in early 2009.