BPTY.L Regulatory News (BPTY)

16 Dec 2008 07:00



 16 December 2008

PartyGaming Plc ("PartyGaming", the "Company")

Discussions with the US Department of Justice 

PartyGaming notes the story published in today's Financial Times regarding an agreement reached between the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (the "DoJ") and Anurag Dikshit, one of the Company's founder shareholders.

As PartyGaming stated in its announcement on 4 June 2007, the Company initiated discussions with the DoJ with the aim of removing any uncertainty regarding the Company's legal status in the United States in respect of the period prior to the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act on 13 October 2006, when the Company allowed customers in the US to play or make deposits on the group's real money sites. The Company cannot comment on the accuracy of the report in today's Financial Times concerning developments involving Mr Dikshit, but any such developments are completely independent from those of the Company and as such should not be seen as bearing any guidance to the nature of the Company's own discussions.

The Company's discussions with the DoJ have made good progress and it is currently negotiating the final terms of a possible settlement with the DoJ. Whilst these discussions are at an advanced stage, the terms of any settlement have not yet been finalised and there can be no guarantee that an agreement will be reached between the Company and the DoJ.

However, on the basis of the discussions to-date, PartyGaming expects any settlement with the DoJ to involve a payment by the Company of an amount that is significantly lower than that reported to be paid by Mr Dikshit in today's Financial Times. In addition, the Company believes that any such settlement is unlikely to include a criminal plea on the part of the Company or any director.

A further announcement will be made in due course once the settlement negotiation has concluded.