Online gaming concern Sportingbet has pulled out of a potential £800 million deal for rival Empire Online.
September 20, 2005 - The talks, which had been an early stage, had ended by mutual consent, according to Sportingbet, but it did not say why.
Sportingbet, which was considering making an offer for its rival, fell 17p to 326.5p whereas Empire slumped 51.5p to 202.5p.
The development comes less than two weeks after poker giant PartyGaming worried investors in the fledgling sector with a warning about future growth.
Empire makes money from directing players to poker and casino websites, and it has a deal with PartyGaming to market a number of its websites.
The sector has seen intense activity in recent months, including the £5 billion flotation of PartyGaming in June and the news that Cassava Enterprises, owner of 888.com, is planning to float. |