Bingo Supermarket reported just a few days ago that party gaming were to buy the online bingo operator Cashcade. It has now been confirmed that Cashcade and PartyGaming have completed the £100 million pound deal. Party gaming have paid an up front fee of just over £71.9 million pounds with over £24 million put on the table if the company continues to perform to the agreed targets.

Cashcade own the brands of Foxy Bingo , Get Minted , Cheeky Bingo , Think Bingo , Bingo Scotland and also work alongside the Daily Mirror and Top Ten Bingo within the Cashcade network. Software suppliers 888 were also in the running to buy the company but pulled out when the price was getting too high. 888 still have contracts in place to supply the software to Cashcade for the next two to three years under license.

PartyGaming have ambitions to be the UK's largest Gaming operator and this purchase will bring them into the top 3. Party Gaming are huge in the casino and poker market but have struggled in the past to be a front runner for the online bingo industry. The new deal saw the partygaming shares on the stock market rise by 6 percent this morning.

Party Gaming CEO, Jim Ryan commented "Cashcade provides us with an excellent platform to build a meaningful share of the £1.5 billion global online bingo market. Our M&A objective is to acquire companies that can put us in the top three position in each of our four product verticals and deliver substantial revenue and cost synergies. Our long term strategic objective it so become the market leader in online poker, casino, sports and bingo"

Patrick Southon, Managing Director at Cashcade added: "This is a very exciting day for Cashcade and we are delighted to join the Party Gaming organisation. We believe there is a substantial opportunity to leverage our existing business now that we are part of the world's leading online gaming company"

Since having to withdrawn from the America markets Party Gaming has focused on its acquisitions and European operations.

By Jayne Wilson