Livermore “failed to deliver a certain amount of income under an acquisition made three years ago,” John Shepherd, a PartyGaming spokesman, said in a telephone interview. The suit was filed in London December 23, according to court records.
Livermore used to operate as the online gaming company Empire Online until Gibraltar-based PartyGaming bought its gambling business in 2006 for us$ 38 million. It changed its name and became an investment business following the acquisition.
Shepherd said the value of the claim is “six figures.” He declined to give more details.
Livermore is run by Chief Executive Officer Noam Lanir, who also founded Empire Online. Fran Read, the company’s spokeswoman, declined to comment.
PartyGaming is in talks with the US Justice Department to resolve allegations over the company’s past activities in that country, where offshore Web gaming is illegal. The company’s founder, Anurag Dikshit, pleaded guilty in the US to illegal Internet gambling and agreed to forfeit us$ 300 million on December 16.
At the time, the company said it was in talks with the Justice Department on a settlement, adding that any payment it makes would likely be “significantly below” the amount paid by Dikshit. The US banned offshore Internet gaming in 2006.