Home » OCW News » January 2010 » Dikshit Sells Remaining Stake in PartyGaming

Dikshit Sells Remaining Stake in PartyGaming

Date published: 27 January 2010

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In October last year we reported how Anurag Dikshit, the co-founder of online gambling giant PartyGaming Plc, sold around 66 percent of his stake in the company for £213 million, and according to reports he sold off his remaining shares this week for £105 million.

After news of Dikshit's share shedding became public, PartyGaming shares dropped by 5.4 percent on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The online gambling entrepreneur who co-founded PartyGaming in 1997, reportedly sold his remaining 38.8 million shares for 270 pence each.

The shares represented a 9.5 percent holding in the firm. According to spokesperson, Shimon Cohen, Dikshit sold his shares in PartyGaming because he wants to move on with his life. 'It's been a process over four years since he first withdrew from the board. And that's now it,' he said.

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Dikshit made international headlines in December 2008 after he pleaded guilty to partaking in illegal online gambling in the United States. He then cooperated fully with the U.S. Department of Justice in its investigation of the firm, as well as agreed to pay $300 million in fines and restitutions.

'It's brought its fair share of issues,' continued Cohen. 'We still have the court hearing and sentencing hanging over us. But Anurag voluntarily went to America and pled guilty so that he could move on.' When PartyGaming listed in 2005, Dikshit became the 207th richest person in the world.

The news saw PartyGaming's share price drop 15.7 pence to 277.8 pence a share, valuing the firm at £1.13 billion. PartyGaming, which is based in the online gambling-friendly jurisdiction of Gibraltar, owns and operates PartyPoker, one of the world's most successful online poker rooms.