PartyGaming CEO cancels share sale

PartyGaming, which owns and operates Party Poker, announced in March that Garber had adopted a planned sale program for the ordinary shares in the company he received as a result of exercising his share options.

The plan would have allowed Garber to sell his shares between December 19-31. The sale was planned in advance to avoid any speculation from the market about the sale.

Garber advised PartyGaming that he has decided to terminate the planned sale, with immediate effect, and doesn’t intend to dispose of any further shares in 2007.

Not only is Garber retaining the shares he currently owns, he’s adding to his holdings by again exercising his share options. He will receive 3.5 million shares at no cost, bringing his total shares up to 8.75 million.

Garber is contractually obligated to keep at least 3.5 million shares while he’s an employee of PartyGaming. The news of him retaining shared bolstered confidence in stock traders today as well. The share price rose 7.92% today to 27.25p.

When the shares were first released on the London Stock Exchange in 2005, they sold at 116p. Since opening they’ve sold as high as in the 150p range and took a drastic drop in early October 2006 after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed in the United States and the company pulled out of the U.S. market.

Since the big drop, the best price the stocks have reached has been in the high 50p range.