Hampton & Portofino Changes Hands Again

Published: Friday, April 15, 2005 Online-Casinos.com

HAMPTON AND PORTOFINO CHANGE HANDS AGAIN

RTG-powered online casinos bought by private equity fund

Private equity fund Rising Star Gaming Ltd. and Hampton Portofino Group have announced the sale of Hampton Casino.com and Portofino Casino.com to the former.

Under the terms of the agreement 100 percent of the shares in Hampton Portofino Group, S.A. will be transferred to Rising Star Gaming, Ltd in return for an undisclosed cash payment.

Hampton Casino and Portofino Casino were launched in the summer of 2000 and have had a chequered history involving player disputes, particularly the high profile, million dollar plus Pirate of the Caribbean affair.

Only a few weeks ago Connect To Casino advised that effective 1 March it no longer has any relationship with either Portofino or Hampton casinos, having sold its interest to World eGaming. Googling that title revealed that the new owner was Windows Casino investor Avi Goldman.

Rising Star Gaming investor spokesman George Klein says the new owners are committed to offering superior customer care and exciting user experience. The company plans to launch Hampton Portofino Partners, a new affiliate program that will not only offer revenue shares as high as 50 percent, but will also pay affiliates $25 for every new player that they deliver to the casinos.

Rising Star Gaming is a private equity fund focused on acquiring and managing companies that provide gaming entertainment services on the internet. According to Klein, Rising Star Gaming is pursuing an aggressive acquisition strategy to build up a solid and diversified asset base prior to a planned initial public offering.

Answering specific InfoPowa questions, Klein said that Hampton and Portofino would continue to use Real Time Gaming software and that the current management team would stay in place. He also revealed that RSG would continue to operate on a Costa Rican business licence although there may be a move to a European jurisdiction on the cards.

As we went to press several sources reported that Rising Sun was also engaged in negotiations to purchase Windows Casino, an RTG-powered operation in which Tony Friedman and Avi Goldman have interests.