Rumors of World Poker Tour to be Acquired by bwin?

Senior executives of WPT Enterprises Inc, owner of the World Poker Tour, were in discussions last week in Gibraltar concerning a possible sale of the business, according to reports by Gambling Intelligence. Though the company in Gibraltar has not been named, Gaming Intelligence reports their analysts believe that online gaming operator bwin is very likely. The acquisition would provide bwin with increased poker TV coverage as it seeks to offer its customers further live streaming TV offerings, alongside its popular sports coverage.

As part of the agreement with WPT, bwin subsidiary Ongame Network secured the exclusive rights to offer its partners the chance to run joint qualifiers to the WPT Venice event.

WPT Enterprises has been discussing strategic ways to maximize the value of the WPT brand in the U.S and foreign markets for some time and has confirmed that it has provided confidential information to certain parties in order to facilitate the discussions. However, with the news that WPT representatives have been in Gibraltar this past week, industry insiders are speculating that a sale could soon be completed.

"We've had discussions with, and exchanged documents with, some companies that have expressed an interest," Steve Lipscomb, WPT's Chief Executive told the Wall Street Journal.

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