New head of M&A appointed

Empire Online Limited
18 July 2005



18 July 2005


                    Empire Online Strengthens M&A Capability



Empire Online, a leading provider of marketing services to the online gaming
industry, has appointed Andrew Burnett, a leading leisure and gaming analyst and
latterly corporate financier as a consultant to lead its M&A drive.  Andrew
Burnett, was a member of the team at Numis Securities which advised Empire
Online during its recent £512 million IPO in London.  He will also play an
active role in Investor Relations advice and support.



Noam Lanir, CEO of Empire Online, said:  'Following our successful IPO we are
rapidly rolling out our operations throughout Europe and will also consider
making strategic acquisitions.  We intend to play a leading role in the
anticipated consolidation and we are looking to Andrew Burnett to spearhead this
for us, working closely with our existing financial advisers, Numis.'



Andrew Burnett said: 'The gaming sector is set for a period of tremendous growth
and consolidation over the medium term.  I look forward to being a part of the
Empire Online team as they lead the market consolidation in the online gaming
industry.'



For further information:



Empire Online Limited                           [phone]
Noam Lanir, Chief Executive Officer
Yossi Pereg, Chief Financial Officer



Citigate Dewe Rogerson                          [phone]
Simon Rigby
Sarah Gestetner






Notes to Editors



Empire Online



Empire Online is a leading provider of marketing services to the online gaming
industry. Through online and offline advertising and other marketing techniques,
the Group directs new players to online poker and online casino websites
operated by third party gaming operators, principally empirepoker.com (a white
label website related to PartyPoker.com, one of the largest online poker rooms)
and Casino-On-Net (part of 888.com, one of the most established online casino
websites). The Company also has arrangements with a subsidiary of PartyGaming to
market other online gaming websites, including AceClub.com and
starluckcasino.com.



The Group's objective is to take advantage of the expected growth of the online
gaming market by generating greater revenues in a cost-efficient manner through
the acquisition of new players and by increasing the activity levels of the
Group's existing players.   The Company aims to pay particular attention to
expanding its player base in certain European countries in the medium term, with
the intention of raising its profile and reducing the Group's reliance on the
North American market. Empire Online will also continue to pursue its existing
strategies in relation to its primary markets of the United States and Canada to
maintain its strong position in these markets.





Andrew Burnett



Andrew began his City career in 1990 and has worked as a leisure analyst at
Charterhouse, ABN AMRO, Merrill Lynch and at Numis as both an analyst and
latterly in corporate finance.   At Numis he was a key member of the team on the
successful IPOs of gaming companies FireOne and Empire Online.



His most significant piece of research was 'Bet The World', a 200-page book on
valuing and appraising online gaming companies. It was published by Merrill
Lynch in 2000 and is considered by many as the definitive work on the online
gaming industry.










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