In June this year the expected first IPO for a Russian gaming operator was delayed indefinitely, or at least until new Russian gaming laws are in place. The Cyprus-registered Ritzio Entertainment Group, with operations in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as well as controlling around 10% of the Russian gaming industry, had hoped an IPO for 15% of Ritzio shares would raise around US$2 billion for expansion projects in Europe.

Last week Olympic Entertainment Group offered its shares to the public simultaneously in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 14 million ordinary shares were subscribed plus the additional 1.4 million shares set aside for oversubscription. The result was historic - no Baltic company had previously received subscription orders valued at €479 million (US$600.8 million) from an IPO. The shares were about three times oversubscribed. The Tallinn Stock Exchange listing, where trading of Olympic shares will start today, makes the company the first in the casino industry on the Baltic and East European exchanges. The shares offered in the course of IPO make up around 20.4% of the share capital of Olympic Entertainment Group.

Armin Karu, Chairman of the Management Board of Olympic Entertainment Group commented that one reason for listing its shares was the wish to show that casino business can be managed in a public, transparent and legitimate manner. “We hope that the listing will contribute to improving the general image of the casino industry,” he added. “The casino business that is developed by observing all legal norms and moral principles is a form of spending leisure time as any other. I hope that the expansion of our shareholder base and the status of a listed company will bring about a change in the overall attitude.”

Olympic presently operates in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. The company intends to become the largest casino operator in Central and Eastern Europe with operations in at least ten countries. Company policy aims to give clients a customer oriented, secure and safe environment unparalleled in the industry, with a household name and reputation. Employing over 2,000 people at its 74 casinos, Olympic seems set to follow its expansion plans and may seek future listing on another European Union stock exchange in due course. (E-10.23.06)

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