Premised on the idea that “skill gaming is NOT gambling” a mainstream media company dives head first into online interactive gambling space. Liberty Media acquires Fun Technologies. FUN also offers fantasy leagues and sports betting odds information services, its suite of skill games include
Puzzle games
Word and Trivia games
Solitaire
Poker Solitaire
Mahjong or Mah Jong
Blackjack Solitaire
Arcade games
LONDON (CP) – Fun Technologies PLC (TSX:FUN) shareholders have voted unanimously in favour of a previously announced takeover of the Canadian-based online gaming company by American cable and Internet company Liberty Media.
Friday’s shareholder’s vote in London will be followed by a series of steps on March 7 and 8, including a London court hearing to approve the deal, delisting of Fun’s current shares in London and Toronto and the listing of the “new” Fun shares.
Created in June 2002 by two cofounders of CryptoLogic Inc. (TSX:CRY), a Toronto-based software company that develops and runs online casino and poker systems, Fun Technologies provides Online Casino skill games.
Skill gaming involves wagering cash on any game that’s not a game of chance or luck – games like chess, checkers, solitaire, and spelling games.
Fun Technologies also runs an interactive television game-show service for GSN, a U.S. cable-TV channel co-owned by Sony and Liberty Media, which also owns the QVC Inc. shopping network and other companies.
The friendly deal between Liberty and Fun was valued at $195 million US when it was announced from London on Nov. 22.
Under the multi-stage deal, Liberty, based in Englewood, Colo., will invest $50 million US in Fun by purchasing 10.5 million of its common shares directly from its treasury.
In the second part of the deal, Liberty will issue a tender offer to buy 23.2 million existing shares at 360 pence to take its total ownership in a recapitalized Fun to 51 per cent.
The price of 360 pence was established as a 40 per cent premium to Fun’s stock price in London as of Nov. 18.
If more than 23.2 million Fun shares are tendered to the offer, its shareholders will be paid partly in cash and partly in shares of the “new” Fun Technologies.
Online Gambling Sites Zapped by Italy Government
The government of Italy have announced that they are set to block over 600 online gambling websites at the end of this week in an attempt to stop the fraudulent acquisition of passwords and credit card information.
The 684 web sites have been labelled illegal by the Italian government and these include every igaming operator of sports betting, poker, casino, bingo, horse betting, and games.. currently based in the remote gambling jurisdiction of Malta.
Italy’s 2006 Budget agreed to block all gambling websites that were not licensed in Italy and more so, any Italian Internet Service Providers who are found to be in breach of this new law will be heavily fined.
A large number of high ranking online gambling sites including the UK’s Betfair have a Maltese license and will therefore no longer be allowed to operate in Italy. As such, backlash is expected from these companies in the form of a legal challenge to the new Italian bans.
