All Bets Are Now Off Between Bwin And PartyGaming

Late last year, the news that Bwin And PartyGaming were about to merge created a buzz of excitement in the industry as investors and customers alike awaited the creation of an internet gaming colossus, which would have been worth over $4 billion.
Back in April this year, a Format magazine article stated that the negotiations between the two companies had now reached an “intensive phase” and and that the merger deal should be completed by this summer.
Now, however, it would appear that all bets are off after Hannes Androsch, the Bwin chairman stated;  “In the end, talks with the (other party) have not led to the desired outcome.”
It is believed that the Austrian sports betting online giant Bwin was now seeking an alternate partner in the US and may have already found a potential joint venture party in San Francisco. Although few other details are forthcoming at this point, it is understood Bwin was considering selling an 11% stake in their company to the potential business partner, and commenting on the latest developments,  co-chief executive of Bwin, Norbert Teufelberger said:
“Bwin wants to tackle the task of entering the US with a competent and local partner. We are holding talks to do this.”
At the crux of any potential merger deal was the desire of Bwin to further consolidate their position in the US internet gaming market by offering a more complete gaming package, to compliment their sports betting operation.
It is believed that any deal between Bwin and PartyGaming would have provided the impetus for many other companies to follow suit, thus creating a wave of mergers within the industry. Online gaming is seen as a badly fragmented market, and with many of the top companies’ latest online poker revenue figures showing a dramatic decline for Q1 of 2010, it would now seem only a matter of time before Bwin finally finds the right partner and begins its shake-up of the online gaming industry once more.