Empire Online Owner Sells Shares to PartyGaming

Israeli news site, Ynetnews.com, is reporting today that Noam Lanir, owner of online gambling company, Empire Online, is selling his remaining shares in the company to former partner and current majority owner, PartyGaming. Party is buying the shares for $40 million.

Earlier in 2006, PartyGaming purchased the business, assets, intellectual property, and player databases of Empire Poker (Empire Online’s poker arm) after a legal dispute between the two companies stemming from Party cutting off all of its “skins.” Empire Poker was once a skin of Party Poker, meaning that Empire brought customers to Party through its own poker room. Customers who signed up at Empire shared tables with Party customers.

Lanir’s total haul from the sale of Empire was $300 million, which he will reportedly use to invest in real estate.

Originally published December 27, 2006