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Online Casino Developer Launches On Market

Hong Kong’s AsianLogic becomes first to launch since passage of UIGEA in 2006.

Monday 31st December 2007

Online casino developer AsianLogic Ltd has become the first major Internet gaming company to list on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) since a crackdown in the US hit companies such as Sportingbet and BetOnSports last year.

The Hong Kong-based firm was founded by former Playtech executive Thomas Hall and made its initial public offering (IPO) to the London Stock Exchange last week, the first to do so since the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in America over a year ago.

The Telegraph newspaper stated that the company floated with a market capitalisation of $245 million after raising $81.17 million to fund its expansion plans, which include capitalising on the massive popularity of betting in Asia and the growing penetration of the Internet.

The company generates three quarters of its revenues from online casino games but also owns a small chain of sportsbetting shops in the Philippines. The majority of its customers are based in Malaysia and Singapore, where broadband Internet access is relatively widespread and gambling laws are more liberal.

'I've been involved in a couple of listings and, in what was a pretty tough market, we got support from a wide range of institutions,' said Hall, Executive Vice Chairman for AsianLogic.

'Asia is growing rapidly as a gaming environment both on land and online and we are one of the first major online gaming groups in Asia.'

 


Source: OnlineCasinoNews