PokerStars Moves To Isle Of Man
Pokerstars, the world's second biggest internet poker company, will announce today that it is moving its operations to the Isle of Man, presaging a possible stock market flotation.
The group, which is controlled by the Scheinberg family of Israel, becomes one of several gambling companies eyeing a possible London listing alongside Coral Eurobet, Gala Group, Betfair, Cassava Enterprises and Trident Gaming.
PokerStars, which is currently based in Costa Rica, has secured a licence from the Isle of Man Government and plans to move to the island later this year.
It has appointed headhunters to find a chief executive to run the company from its new base.
Another key factor for PokerStars was the removal in January of rules barring companies from accepting casino and poker bets from America, where internet gambling is a grey area legally.
Although PokerStars is still some way from taking a decision on a possible IPO, analysts believe a listing would enable it to become one of the industry's main consolidators.
