"This deal will provide immediate reach into new markets for PacificNet and instant access to China for Octavian"

Why did PacificNet decide to acquire Octavian and what will be the future advantages for each company?

PacificNet and Octavian have been talking for some while as the synergies and opportunities for our two businesses have been apparent for a long time. Octavian has a significant worldwide presence with regional offices in UK, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Argentina, Colombia and R&D centres in Russia, India and Australia. By contrast, PacificNet, to date, has focused on the Chinese market. Our coming together will provide immediate geographic reach into new markets for PacificNet and instant access to the Chinese market for Octavian - which has been a strategic focus of Octavian's for the last few years.

There will also be a synergistic effect by combining Octavian's strong global brand name and worldwide gaming distribution expertise with PacificNet's low-cost development resources in China and local Asian gaming expertise. We are confident that Octavian's product portfolio and global growth strategy is an extremely good fit with PacificNet's. This deal also positions PacificNet extremely well for the future - it will significantly strengthen our presence in the gaming sector, which will be an important growth area for us.

Octavian has a plethora of systems, games and add-ons ready to take to the Chinese market. It is an extremely experienced gaming systems company with slots and table management systems, downloadable games systems and lottery systems. Octavian also has its own wide range of games content and other related products that bolt on to its systems offering. This is represented by the OctaWare concept - a complete universe of open and flexible software-based gaming solutions. This proven framework of solutions for gaming operations will, I believe, be very well received by the Chinese gaming market.

Will there be immediate changes for both firms as a consequence of the deal? If so, can you explain them?

The acquisition is not about change; it's about continued growth and development. Octavian will continue to operate independently as a wholly owned subsidiary of PacificNet, just like our other subsidiary companies. The company will retain the name Octavian and its brand identity. There will be no changes to the management team or to how the company does business.

The only real change will be that Octavian and its management team will play a significant role in increasing the gaming division of PacificNet and the capability of PacificNet as a group.

As CEO of PacificNet, what are your expectations of this acquisition?

From a broad business perspective this acquisition is expected to greatly increase PacificNet's overall gaming revenues and profits.

More specifically, we want to grow PacificNet's gaming division as this is currently quite a small part of PacificNet's overall operations. This will help us to maximise our opportunities in the Chinese market as well as in existing Octavian markets. The acquisition will also help both companies to enter new markets and to position the company to take full advantage of some very exciting future gaming trends.

Will this acquisition result in any improvement in technology and / or in market penetration or in the portfolio of products?

As mentioned earlier, the acquisition will result almost immediately in a huge improvement in the systems available to the Chinese market. Octavian has sophisticated systems for managing gaming operations and assets and these systems have a track record of efficient operation and continuous improvement over many years.

The deal will also mean improved market penetration for our existing and future products from PacificNet and Octavian. In particular, the acquisition will immediately provide an opportunity to infiltrate existing markets with new products that will greatly improve service and choice for our customers. There is no overlap of products or territories for PacificNet or Octavian - which is another reason why the synergy is so good.

We will also work together to develop new products and enhance existing products for existing and new markets and that too will create exciting opportunities. We will see strong synergistic development between Octavian and our other subsidiary companies in R&D and gaming product development.

How important is the Latin American market for PacificNet? Does the company have any projects for the future in that region?

Octavian already has a significant presence in Latin America with plans to grow this further. It remains an extremely important market for Octavian and continued success in this region can only be enhanced by the acquisition.

PacificNet wholly endorses Octavian's growth plans in Latin America and we realize that there is a huge opportunity to develop activities still further in this market. It's another example of Octavian having the foresight to see emerging market opportunities and to make an impact in a market during the early stages of development. The Latin American presence was another significant reason why PacificNet saw Octavian as an attractive acquisition.