Empire Online has managed to avoid acquisition for the second time in row, but it does not seem like the directors of the online poker room are happy about it. The past few months have been tough for them, with Sportingbet in talks about a possible takeover, which fell through in September; then in October partner PartyGaming blocked players who used Empire Online’s “skin” service, which allowed players to customize virtual poker tables. When talks began in November of PartyGaming taking over, Empire Online saw its shares drop in value by half. Now that PartyGaming has done a valuation on them and come in too low, they have broken off talks of a takeover and are instead considering legal action.
Empire Online issued a statement that said: "Having received legal advice, the Directors intend to institute and vigorously pursue legal proceedings as soon as possible."
The company remains optimistic. It believes it can deliver profits for the year ending 31 December in line with market expectations. | 
