The much vaunted potential merger between two of Europe’s gaming behemoths, PartyGaming and bwin, is off according to newsagency Reuters.
bwin chairman Hannes Androsch told Austrian magazine Trend that, “In the end, talks with the (other party) have not led to the desired outcome.”
The company’s co-chief executive Norbert Teufelberger (pictured) went on to say that, "bwin wants to tackle the task of entering the United States with a competent and local partner. We are holding talks to do this.”
The prospect of a merger between the owners of PartyPoker and the Ongame poker network was widely expected to trigger a wave of consolidation in the industry which has generally seen moribund revenue performance during the recession.
Most recent figures for first quarter 2010 online poker revenues show:
- PartyGaming down 11 percent
- iPoker network down 4 percent
- William Hill Poker down 11 percent
- 888 Poker down 15 percent
- Betsson Poker down 26 percent
- Entraction network down 25 percent
- Svenska Spel poker down 18 percent (in full year 2009)
