June 29, 2010 (CAP News Wire) – Some conflicting reports this week have brought the possibly bwin and PartyGaming merger back into the news, without really clarifying if there’s really been any change to the status of the talks.
On Sunday, Reuters reported that talks between the two companies had totally broken down and that a deal was most likely off the table.
“In the end, talks with the (other party) have not led to the desired outcome,” bwin’s Hannes Androsch was quoted as saying by Austria’s Trend, via the Reuters report. This was taken to mean that the deal was off.
But the next day, Reuters reported that Androsch had been misquoted in the article. “Bwin, which like PartyGaming has never confirmed or denied the talks with Partygaming said in its statement on Monday that Androsch had been misquoted by Trend,” the news service reported.
“Hannes Androsch would like to clarify his statement as follows: ‘It is true, that up until now talks have not led to any specific outcome,'” the statement said. (Note the addition of the words “up until now”.)
“It also confirmed that it is in talks with possible partners to enter the U.S. market,” the Reuters report added.
If the merger did eventually go through, it would likely have big ramifications for the online casino affiliate marketing industry, where the separate PartyGaming and bwin brands constitute a large share of the market.