Sale of Bwin.party to 888 for $1.4 billion could have Nevada implications Gibraltar-based 888 Holdings won the takeover battle for Bwin.party Digital Entertainment, agreeing Friday to pay $1.4 billion for the company and creating an online gaming conglomerate. The transaction, which requires regulatory and shareholder approval, could reverberate throughout the fledgling U.S. online gaming market, including Nevada. 888 Holdings, which has a Nevada gaming license, partners with Caesars Entertainment Corp. in the company's online gaming business in Nevada and New Jersey. 888 Holdings also provides the platform that operates the shared online poker website between Nevada and Delaware. Bwin.party, also based in Gibraltar, partners with Boyd Gaming Corp. in the company's online gaming venture in New Jersey. Bwin.party has similar deals in Nevada with Boyd and MGM Resorts International, but the online business never has been launched. Bwin.party is not licensed in Nevada. "We look forward to understanding more about the proposed transaction," Boyd Gaming spokesman David Strow said. Tom Mikulich, MGM Resorts International senior vice president of business development, said the company would be "discussing with 888 and bwin.party the opportunities that this transaction brings." 888 Holdings outbid rival online gaming company GVC Holdings for Bwin.party, which placed itself up for sale last year. GVC partnered in the bid with Canada-based Amaya Gaming, which owns PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Eilers Research gaming analyst Adam Krejcik said he didn't believe the transaction would threaten PokerStars' dominance in the online gaming market. "We have mixed views about Amaya losing out to 888 and how the combined entity will impact the competitive landscape," Krejcik said. Buying Bwin.party allows 888 Holdings to increase its scale in a market. Combined revenue last year would have been about $1.1 billion, 888 Holdings said in a statement. The acquisition also will yield cost savings and lead to creation of a separate gaming technology unit that eventually can be spun off.