Micropower Poker Provider Acquired By Chartwell
Published: Friday, May 27, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
MICROPOWER POKER PROVIDER ACQUIRED BY CHARTWELL
$4 million looks like
a bargain price
Canadian turnkey provider Chartwell Technology Inc. completed
the acquisition of the successful and growing poker software developer Micropower
Corporation of Gibraltar as we went to press this week, early reports suggesting
that the price was $4 million.
Founded two years ago, Micropower has quickly
established a brand that is synonymous with multi-player poker technology. Some
of the biggest names in the online and iTV worlds have chosen the companys poker
software including ESPN (Sports Television Network), NTN (iTV Games Network),
FHM (UK Men's Magazine), Easybets and BoDog.com.
The acquisition enables
Chartwell to offer a dynamic, multi-player poker software solution complete with
single and multi-table tournament functionality, frequent player points, uploadable
player images and integrated player stats.
The software also presents
an array of unique features including live dealers, in-game advertising and three
to six table play, all designed to increase player loyalty and length of play,
all in a suite that includes some of the most popular games such as Texas Hold'em,
Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7-Card Stud, 7-Card Hi/Lo, 5-Card Stud and 5-Card Draw.
In company with Chartwell's casino, mobile, bingo, kiosk and soft-game line-up,
the new poker component is built on an expandable and scalable platform, allowing
for the integration of new games as required.
Chartwell CEO Darrold Parken
says, "Growth of the online poker market has been exceptional - the strategic
television marketing, passage of the UK Gaming Act and the movement toward further
regulation in other jurisdictions will continue to drive the growth of this market.
We recognized that while our overall product suite is very strong, our poker software
capabilities needed significant enhancement to quickly capitalise on opportunities.
"The Micropower acquisition provides a huge boost to our software
product line and our future development capabilities and will provide the impetus
for the next phase of Chartwell's growth.
"Equal in importance to the
new poker software product are the very talented people that Chartwell has gained
through this acquisition and it is with great pleasure that I welcome over 20
key development specialists to the Chartwell poker team," Parken concluded.
Available in a wide range of languages, the new Chartwell multi-player
poker product uses the latest in client/server encryption and has been independently
certified by the world's premier game-testing laboratory -TST (Technical Systems
Testing). Gameplay is effectively maintained through a robust back office management
system complete with all the tools necessary to manage a successful poker game
environment.
The new poker offering will seamlessly integrate with the
Chartwell gaming system and with existing client platforms for stand-alone or
community deployment allowing Chartwell to remain a pure software provider to
many of the world's largest gaming brands.
The acquisition terms include
contingent consideration based upon certain new Micropower business opportunities.
The total contingent consideration will not exceed $500,000 and 55,000 Chartwell
shares.
