Poker Deal Signed Between PartyGaming And French Media Giant AB Groupe

This month, France moved to legalise online gambling throughout the country in a move designed to “gradually drain the black-market of online gaming by creating a legal alternative,”  according to the budget minister François Baroin.
Soon after the bill was approved there was a flood of deals signed between online gaming sites and media giants, including Mangas Gaming and France’s M6 Group, and Ladbrokes and Canal+.
Following PartyGaming’s entry into the French market recently by partnering up with Pari Mutuel Urbain to provide poker to the French horse racing betting group, the leading online gaming company has now signed a second B2B deal in France, this time with one of the country’s top TV broadcasters, the AB Groupe.
AB Groupe has around 52 million paid subscribers throughout France and other French speaking countries, and the new deal will see the two companies combining their resources to produce a brand new poker room called “LuckyJeux.”
LuckyJeux will then join PartyGaming on their French poker network, while the  AB Groupe will promote the poker room across their TV and online network. After announcing the deal, PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan said:
“AB Groupe is a first rate addition to our French poker network and is consistent with our stated strategy of combining B2C and B2B offerings in newly regulated markets. Together with our recently announced alliance with PMU, we are in great shape ahead of the market opening and are excited about our prospects”