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 +357 (2) 5 847 700 Noam Lanir, Chief Executive Officer Yossi Pereg, Chief Financial Officer Citigate Dewe Rogerson +44 (0) 20 7638 9571 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. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange