EGR exclusive: Dikshit to sell entire PartyGaming stake 20/10/2009
PARTYGAMING FOUNDER ANURAG Dikshit is to walk away from the company completely by selling his entire stake, EGRmagazine.com can reveal exclusively.
As reported today, Dikshit earlier announced he is to sell two thirds of his 28% stake in the British company to focus on his charitable work in south Asia.
However speaking to eGaming Review this afternoon, a spokesman for Dikshit, who pleaded guilty to internet gambling charges under the US Wire Act last December and received a $300m fine, confirmed that Dikshit will sell his remaining stake too.
Shimon Cohen said: “Anurag has paid the US$300m fine that he was asked to pay by the US authorities and has decided it is time to move away from the company. When the time is right, his remaining shares will be sold as well. There will be another announcement related to the sale of the rest of the shares, although we can’t yet say when.”
Cohen confirmed all proceeds from the sale of today’s shares, estimated by broker Daniel Stewart to amount to a net share sale income of £188m at 250p, would go into a charitable foundation.
“Anurag has a charitable foundation that has been running for a number of years that he would like to be able to transfer the proceeds into, and to continue to do the works of the charitable foundation.” Cohen said.
Although PartyGaming is so far the only major operator to have settled with the US authorities for its activities prior to the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in October 2006, Dikshit’s fellow PartyGaming founders Ruth Parasol and Russ DeLeon, who together also hold roughly 28% of the business, have yet to follow Dikshit and settle for activities there prior to PartyGaming pulling out of the US market in 2006.
PartyGaming came second in this year’s eGaming Review Power 50 of leading operators
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Posted: 20/10/2009
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Phillip Anthropy
Good for Dikshit. Everyone has to work for a while - we've all got bills to pay - but AD gets my respect: firstly for having seen that life is about more than just working; and second for realising that there are more important things to do with free time than play golf.
If you've made a billion you should pat yourself on the back and move on to something else - not spend the rest of your life worrying about money when you've clearly already made enough for your lifetime.
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