PARTYGAMING, the online gambling group, is thought to be the front-runner in the race for Victor Chandler’s Gibraltar-based betting empire.
The Victor Chandler Group is the latest gambling company that the online poker and casino giant is understood to be weighing up, as it prepares to spend the £500 million war chest that it raised on flotation last year.
This month PartyGaming entered the sports bookmaking market with the acquisition of the Bulgarian-based Gamebookers for £69 million. However, its appetite for acquisitions is far from sated and it has been linked with several other betting firms, including Victor Chandler’s group, which is thought to be worth about £400 million.
Last month Mr Chandler revealed that he had received approaches from three private equity firms, two in Britain and one in the United States for the company that pioneered telephone betting.
Rival companies with big exposures in the United States are also thought to be taking a keen interest in the company in reaction to the arrest of David Carruthers, the former chief executive of BetOnSports.
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In contrast to PartyGaming, Victor Chandler Group has no exposure to America and has a thriving business in Europe and Asia.
In 1999 Mr Chandler made waves in the gambling world when he moved his entire operation to Gibraltar and offered telephone tax-free betting for the first time.