We always love to dish a little industry dirt here, as it’s often the first step on the big bingo chain that leads all the way back to the what’s why’s and where’s of your online bingo enjoyment. And no story has dominated the industry headlines like that of PartyGaming’s at the moment. The owner of several of our top faves in the bingo world, including Party Bingo, Foxy Bingo, Cheeky Bingo, Think Bingo and Little Big Bingo, PartyGaming have recently been causing a bit of stir for leading the charge with some mergers and acquisitions that definitely mean big business.
First they took over Cashcade, acquiring said Foxy Bingo and friends in the process. Now they have just announced a 2011 merger with Bwin, the Austrian betting operator. And if that wasn’t enough to put the fear of god into their rivals, PartyGaming are publicly showing no signs of slowing the pace at all. In a recent interview in industry magazine eGaming Review, PartyGaming Chief Executive, Jim Ryan, was happy to continue the “all guns blazing” road PartyGaming seem so intent on traveling down.
In the interview, Ryan not only fessed up that the Bwin merger “will put us into the next dimension. Our future is very bright”, but also that the company were looking to push back into the US gaming market, where online gaming is not open to regulation, yet. And to be fair, he’s got a lot to be happy about. The acquisition of Cashcade has not only helped PartyGaming boost it’s bingo offering by adding the new brands to the mix, the Cashcade wand has also been waved over other brands like Party Bingo and ITV Bingo. In fact, the bingo revenues of the company have been boosted from EUR1.2m to a staggering EUR25.8m. That’s a heck of a lot of bingo balls.
But what really piqued our interest was that PartyGaming are not even content with their current online bingo domination, with Ryan suggesting the group will continue to consolidate their position as the industry leader with more deals once the dust has settled on the Bwin deal. If we were a bingo operator right now, we’d be shaking in our boots. With such a huge grip on the market, competing with PartyGaming will be a tall order, especially when it comes to bingo. This may not be a bad thing for Ryan and the sites that he owns, but as competition looks set to get even hotter, it could well be that some smaller brands may be squeezed out.
However, we hate to think of the news as all clouds and no silver linings. And what will be interesting is to see how other big bingo operators, such as 888Holdings start to fight back. And you know what that means? More offers and more good stuff as the big guns go tooth and nail for your bingo cash. It looks set to be a bumpy ride for some, but as roomies, we reckon there are some bright promotional times looming on the horizon.
