PartyGaming acquires bingo operator Cashcade

As reported by Gaming Intelligence: "In a stock market announcement early Thursday morning, PartyGaming plc confirmed one of the industry's worst kept secrets of recent months; its £71.9 million acquisition of Cashcade Limited, the UK's leading online bingo operator.

"PartyGaming said it had paid an initial consideration of £71.9 million for the entire issued share capital of Cashcade Limited, with an agreement to pay a further £24.0 million in cash dependent on the company's future performance.

"The terms of the deferred payment stipulate that PartyGaming will pay a further £15.0 million to Cashcade shareholders in March 2010 if the company's 2009 EBITDA equals or exceeds £15.0m, and a further £9.0 million in March 2011 if Cashcade's 2010 EBITDA equals or exceeds £19.0m.

"...Commenting on the today's announcement, PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan said that the acquisition of Cashcade was in line with the company's M&A objective of acquiring businesses that can propel Party to the top three position in each of the four product verticals in which it operates; namely poker, casino, sports betting and bingo.

"'Cashcade provides us with an excellent platform to build a meaningful share of the $1.5 billion global online bingo market,' said Ryan..."