Bwin.party-backed fund sells stake in Gaming Realms

NewGame Capital, the investment vehicle backed by bwin.party and Foxy Bingo founders Patrick Southon and Simon Collins, has divested its entire stake in gaming operator Gaming Realms.

In a statement to the market this morning, Gaming Realms said it had been notified by NewGame that it no longer held an interest in the group having placed its holding with new and existing shareholders.

Michael Buckley, chairman of Gaming Realms, thanked bwin.party for the support it had offered the group since its involvement.

“We are pleased with the level of demand for the company’s shares and expect the broader shareholder base to increase the free float and provide additional liquidity to our shareholders,” Buckley said.

A number of directors at Gaming Realms took the opportunity to bolster their own stakes in the firm, most notably Buckley, who took his holding to 9.22% of issued share capital by purchasing an additional 1.4 million ordinary shares.

Patrick Southon increased his stake to 5.58% by purchasing 500,000 ordinary shares and former Party Gaming chief executive Jim Ryan bought 1 million ordinary shares, taking his holding in the group to 0.71%.

Former Aristocrat CEO Atul Bali, who joined the board in May last year, acquired his first shares in the company by purchasing 1 million.

NewGame Capital was established in 2011, with bwin.party investing £15m into the venture alongside Patrick Southon and Simon Collins’ £1m after the egaming operator purchased Foxy Bingo from the pair two years prior.

Bwin.party is currently in the process of disposing non-core assets, which has also included its social gaming division Win, however, talks regarding a sale to Rising Tide Games are reported to have broken down.