Investor paradise at Sportingbet

ONLINE gambling group

Sportingbet jumped a further 8p to an all-time high of 180 1/2p amid whispers that Hilton Group (2 3/4p off at 258 3/4p) - which owns Britain's biggest bookmaker Ladbrokes - has made a tentative bid approach. Dealers heard that it would prefer a 'friendly' deal but it is prepared to go hostile if necessary. A cash offer in the region of £807m, or 250p per share, could be on the cards.

One fund manager said: 'I know the Paradise Poker deal was a big steal at only seven times next year's earnings, but there has been something else behind recent heavy buying of Sportingbet. It comes as no surprise to hear that one of the major bookies could now be sniffing around.'

The Paradise acquisition has put Sportingbet into a different league. It almost doubled its size and gives it a huge foothold in the US market. There is an online poker frenzy in the US and Paradise has more than 700,000 gamblers on its books. Online poker is a high-margin, hugely cash-generative business that is set to expand as the US poker mania spreads overseas.

Still reflecting the 10% stake recently taken by Malaysia's Genting, Stanley Leisure galloped 15 1/4p ahead to 487 1/2p. Stanley's chairman Lord Steinberg pocketed £36m when he sold 10% of his 22% shareholding so that the group could form closer ties with Asia's biggest casino operator.

All bets were off for the Footsie as it fell 40 points before closing 25.1 down at 4722.8. Dealers were spooked by a higher oil price following the terrorist attacks on the US consulate in Saudi Arabia and talk of possible production cuts at Friday's Opec meeting in Cairo. Wall Street traded 65 points lower in early dealings.

Financial information giant Reuters cheapened 8p to 381p on revived competition fears. Rival Bloomberg plans to extend its EBS joint venture to offer foreign exchange trading capability across all 200,000 Bloomberg terminals. News of City job cuts also put the boot in.

Travis Perkins soared 58p to 1488p amid speculation that the builder's merchant is lining up an offer for Wickes, the 'heavy' DIY part of Focus Wickes. FW is owned by private equity house Duke Street and Apax.

Yet another set of record results lifted computer games publisher SCi Entertainment 21 1/2p to a peak of 226p. Punters with new PlayStation 2 consolesboosted sales of its games, particularly the best-selling Conflict: Vietnam which sold 1.2m copies. Full-year profits jumped 28.6% to a record £4.5m.

SCi's pipeline of games is impressive and includes Conflict 4 and Constantine, based on the film starring Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz.

Benefiting from the current strong demand for portable electrical devices such as Apple iPods, Wolfson Microelectronics sparked 10 3/4p higher to 130 3/4p.

A warning that fourth-quarter sales will be below earlier expectations due to lower demand in Europe and the US left ceramic maker Churchill China 26p lower at 221 1/2p.

Placed on Aim at 5p by broker Durlacher, shares of India Outsourcing almost trebled to 14 1/2p on heavy buying. The company has been formed to capitalise on acquisition and investment opportunities in the India business process outsourcing market.

Another newcomer, Gatekeeper Systems, a provider of trolley-based anti-theft systems to the retail industry, closed 3p above its 48p placing price.

First Calgary Petroleum gushed 57p to 701p on speculation that Statoil, the Norwegian state- controlled group, is a leading contender to buy First Calgary in an auction process to be held early next year.

Internet and network security group Harrier edged up to 17p despite terminating merger talks with Germany's Articon-Integralis. Harrier said it is now in talks with another interested party which could lead to an offer for the company.

River Diamonds firmed 1/8p to 2 3/4p following an upbeat drilling report.