With rumors swirling about the fate of the gambling giant bwin.party, industry insiders now believe that the company could soon be acquired by Intertain, a Canadian-based holding firm. Intertain is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and is home to a variety of gambling brands including InterPoker, InterCasino, and Costa Bingo.

On Monday, following a spike on its share price, the company issued a statement neither confirming or denying the rumors. “Strategic acquisitions have been and are one component of the company’s growth strategy and, as such, Intertain regularly evaluates potential acquisition opportunities,” it said. “From time to time, this process leads to discussions with potential acquisition targets. There can be no assurance that any such discussions will ultimately lead to a transaction.”

Interestingly, the press release is an almost word-for-word copy of the one issued by Amaya in May right before the company announced its $4.9 billion purchase of PokerStars and Full Tilt.

Intertain has been active this year snapping up pricey new assets, acquiring the UK bingo operator Mandalay Media in June for $82.4 million, followed by Nordic-facing online casino group Vera & John for €89 million. Intertain CEO John Kennedy FitzGerald touted the latter purchase as a means to provide “immediate accretion and meaningful operating cash flow” while granting “access to the growing Nordic markets.”

Whispers of a bwin.party sale were made public last month when Financial Times analysts claimed that the company was in advanced negotiations with a potential buyer. Soon after, the Gibraltar-based gaming company issued a statement confirming that it had entered into talks “with a number of interested parties regarding a variety of potential business combinations.”

According to insiders, one of those interested parties was initially none other than Amaya Gaming. Peel Hunt analyst Nicholas Batram, however, believes that bwin.party’s tenuous position in Germany could be a deal-breaker. “The timing looks strange, particularly given the uncertain situation in Germany,” he said. Batram further explained that proposed legislation in the country could endanger the company’s highly profitable sports betting business there.

The gambling software developer Playtechwas also mentioned as a possible suitor for bwin.party after the Isle of Man-based company announced it would raise $315 million for acquisitions and “organic opportunities.” Amaya has also been floated as a possible buyer for bwin.party.

For now, Intertain is staying mum on its plans for the future. “As a general policy, Intertain does not publicly comment on potential acquisitions unless and until a binding legal agreement has been signed or material terms of the transaction have been settled and there are no material conditions to closing, such as financing,” the release continued. “The company intends to make no further comment or release regarding current market rumors unless and until such comment is warranted.”

Since bwin and Party merged in 2011, the company’s stock price has been slashed by nearly half. Earlier this year, activist investor Jason Ader bought a controlling interest in the firm with his sights set on making major changes to increase value. In a bid to influence shareholders, Ader created a website called savebwinparty.com where he criticized CEO Norbert Teufelberger and other executives who received exorbitant bonuses while investors suffered “the economic cost of this value destruction.”

After fighting for several seats on the board, Ader eventually settled for one, naming Daniel Silvers as his representative.

Through its partnership with Borgata in New Jersey, bwin.party consistently rakes in the highest revenue of all regulated online gambling sites in the state.

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