PartyGaming Shares Up 5% on Speculation of Stake in BWin

Speculation that PartyGaming is building a stake in BWin, the troubled Austrian online bookmaker, helped shares in the £4 billion poker operator up nearly 5%.

BWin, formerly BetandWin, fell 30% last week after the German state of Saxony banned it from taking sports bets in Germany. The Austrian company, which has two weeks to challenge the ruling in a court in Dresden, claimed that German politicians wanted to retain the state betting monopoly for fiscal reasons.

BWin's shares were back on the move yesterday amid talk that Morgan Stanley was bidding for stock in the market. That rumoured activity not only bolstered rival online gaming stocks but also led some dealers to the conclusion that the US investment bank could be acting on behalf of the newly acquisitive

PartyGaming, which last month paid €102 million (£69 million) for Gamebookers, the sports betting specialist. PartyGaming's shares closed 4¾p higher at 108¾p.