The decision of one of the online casino industry’s most successful software firms to float shares on London’s Alternative Investment Market has generated much interest in recent days. Playtech, which powers approximately one third of the world’s online casino companies, confirmed rumors of an imminent floatation after the United Kingdom’s Financial Times leaked the news earlier in the week. Playtech’s decision to float publicly is likely to be one of the largest online gambling listings this year, with several analysts predicting that its initial IPO will surpass even that of poker giant PartyGaming’s phenomenal appearance on the London Stock Exchange.
Investor interest was heightened further today when a statement by a Playtech spokesperson indicated that the company plans to offer shares valuing $300 million U.S. dollars in an initial public offering. This would increase the software firm’s total value to $950 million dollars. In the statement, the spokesperson confirmed that Playtech, which is based in the Virgin Islands and headed by Teddy Sagi, who currently owns more than 50 percent of the company’s shares, will float “within the month.”
Founded in 1999, Playtech’s fortunes have risen rapidly with the boom in online gambling worldwide. In 2003, the company recorded a net annual profit of $8.2 million U.S. dollars. In 2005, Playtech’s year ended with over $35 million dollars in profit, while sales also rose to $47.6 million dollars.

The company has a policy of recruiting software graduates to work in its research and development division, and has a strong working relationship with the University of Tartu in Estonia, where most of its employees originate. Playtech’s management team however is based on the Isle of Man. The software firm develops and licenses software for over 90 online casinos, 16 online poker rooms and 14 bingo websites.

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