bwin Notifies Merger with PartyGaming to Competition Authority

The Austrian Federal Competition Authority (BWB - Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde) announced today Wednesday on its website that bwin, the publicly traded online betting provider, is planning a merger with the British PartyGaming.

Within 14 days, any business who considers itself affected in its interests by the merger may submit a notification to the Federal Competition Commission or the Federal Antitrust Lawyer. November 17 is the deadline to apply for the examination of the merger in the antitrust legal proceedings.

For the financial center of Vienna the decision of the betting provider has its relevance: bwin and PartyGaming are founding a new company in Gibraltar, which will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. The new entity will thus become the largest online betting provider in the world. bwin will therefore leave the Vienna Stock Exchange. This departure is seen as a major setback to the domestic financial market in Austria. In addition, many of the 800 jobs of the bwin Vienna location are in danger.