PartyGaming Plc, the Gibraltar-based online gaming company, had announced that it had entered into an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of NY, the terms and conditions according to which the company would pay a fine, to the tune of $105 million, over a period of the next three and a half years. At present, PartyGaming does not have a presence in the US, having exited the scene just before the signing of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act in late 2006 that dealt the death blow for many top online internet gaming companies based in the United States.

Prior to the passing of the bill, while PartyGaming had an active presence in the US, the company had not involved in any sports betting, the only gambling activity that was already banned within the US. But, the conditions of the agreement demanded the company to make a "Statement of Facts" that included the following: "Prior to 13th October 2006, certain of the U.S. customer transactions meant for PartyGaming that were processed by third parties, and other gaming and payment-related activity, were against certain U.S. laws." Here, it must be seen in the backdrop of the fact that casino-style games were offered by PartyGaming during that period.

As per the agreement, in return for the fine and the statement, PartyGaming won’t be subjected to any prosecution, pertaining to its US operations prior to the said date. Commenting on the latest developments, PG’s CEO said “The resolution of our position with the U.S. law authorities marks an important day for PG. It has been a long and complex process, but in the end, we have reached an amicable solution with the USAO that makes commercial sense for our business as an online gaming company, and is in the best interests of shareholders. PG is now well-placed to seize organic as well as strategic opportunities that earlier were beyond our reach in North America and beyond."

The painstaking process of negotiations was going on between the two parties for more than two years. Now, with the cloud of potential risk of US settlements shrouding the company’s operations being removed forever, its shares had shot up by 16% in early trading. The new agreement also cleared the road ahead for PartyGaming, should the US government decide to legalize and regulate online gaming in the US, in the future.

In fact, the shares of publicly traded online gaming companies such as Sportingbet and 888 Holdings had also went up by double digit percentages, as analysts anticipate similar outcomes in their deals with the US government as well.