Garber joins the Party 22/03/2006

Speculation had been mounting for a number of weeks and it was widely assumed Garber would be announced as the new chief executive of the Gibraltar-based operator. Garber's previous post was as executive chairman of London stock market-listed alternative payment specialists FireOne Group.

At the time of his departure from FireOne Garber said he was leaving "to pursue other opportunities within the internet gaming sector", prompting fevered speculation in the press and among industry observers that he would be joining Party.

Jim Ryan, chief executive of Excapsa and an old business colleague of Garber's commented: "He is a great choice. He grew a great business at (Canadian company) Optimal Group. I couldn't be happier for him and I look forward to competing with him."

A Canadian national, Garber currently lives in Canada and will relocate with his family to Gibraltar, with Party covering the relocation costs. The Party board met in the last week of March to ratify the appointment and agree terms.

Garber is expected to be offered a similar annual salary to Segal's, £585,000 (US$1m), and will reportedly be offered 7m shares a year for the next three to four years, dependent on performance targets being met. These options would be 'nil paid', meaning Garber could cash them in at the current share price of 127.75p at the time of writing, which would make the options worth around £8.9m.

Commenting on his appointment, Garber said: "PartyGaming's achievements in its short life are amazing and the recent launch of the fully integrated, Party-branded platform together with PartyCasino.com, the new product pipeline and the plans to offer multi-lingual and multi-currency online poker are clear evidence of the energy, drive and aspirations that run throughout PartyGaming. This is a great business and I look forward to working with my new colleagues."

The appointment of a well-established and respected online gaming executive such as Garber has been viewed as a successful resolution to what could have turned into a time-consuming issue for Party. Garber, who was also on other egaming companies' wish list, is a qualified lawyer who has experience of advising companies on gaming and betting regulatory matters and of corporate mergers and acquisitions.

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Posted: 22/03/2006