PartyGaming, a Gibraltar based online gambling portal, could be the first Internet gaming group to enter the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 (FTSE), as it announced its plans to float on the London Stock Exchange in late June. The valuation will be for an enormous amount, 5.8 billion pounds sterling, and if successful, will be the largest float of its kind in London since 2002 when William Hill, the bookmaker, went on the public market. The company’s flotation could well end up making its founders, Amurag Dikshit, Vikrant Bhargava, Ruth Parasol, and Russ DeLeon, billionaires. Dikshat and Bhargava, both graduates of the Indian Institute of Technology, one of the best universities in India, own 42 percent of company shares and 14 percent of company shares, respectively. Ruth Parasol, who once worked in the adult entertainment industry, owns twenty percent and so does Russ DeLeon, Parasol’s husband. If the float succeeds, Dikshit’s percentage will yield him more than two billion pounds sterling.

PartyGaming, which has established its headquarters in Gibraltar for tax purposes, has seen increases in its profits each successive year since it started. In the first quarter of 2005 alone, the company turned over 222.6 million dollars. Its flotation of five to eight billion pounds sterling on the FTSE makes the company more valuable than British Airways or Boots. PartyGaming claims over fifty percent of the global online poker market and its PartyPoker website hosts up to 65,000 players at peak periods. In the United Kingdom, online gambling has increased by 45 percent compared with last year, according to Nielsen/Net rating, with approximately 3.2 million visitors logging in to online gambling sites in February.

By floating on the FTSE, PartyGaming is hoping to create an air of legitimacy and credibility for itself that tends to be lacking in this industry. Other online gaming companies seem to be taking the same approach. 888Casino.com, another online gaming company that also makes its home in Gibraltar, similarly announced its own plans for a flotation on the FTSE. 888Casino.com has enlisted the aid of Credit Suisse First Boston to complete a strategic review. 888Casino.com intends to float later this year.

PartyGaming will be using the firm of Dresdner Kleenwat Wasserstein as its sponsor, book runner, and global coordinator. Dresdner Kleenwat Wasserstein also plans to use other banks as well to assist in the job.

Looking at figures released earlier this year by Irish bookmaker, Paddy Power, we can see that Ireland is also seeing the effects of the online gaming boom. Paddy Power showed record increases in operating profit, turnover, and earnings per share for 2005. Also, the online betting firm, Victor Chandler, recently setup its tax free betting services in Ireland as well as its first bricks and mortar presence in the country.