EMPIRE Online, the group which until now has marketed other people's gambling websites, has agreed to buy two of its own from fellow companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.

It will pay up to $40 million (Pounds 22.68 million) in cash over a series of instalments for Club Dice, which runs four casino and bingo sites, and for Noble Poker, a poker operator.

Empire, which floated on the London stock market six weeks ago, has $47 million cash in the bank.

Its shares have raced up from the placing price of 175p to 223p.

Finance director Yossef Pereg refused to disclose the two individuals selling their businesses, and said the group could take up to three months to complete due dilligence on the deals.

Both the acquistions use Playtech software, which is generally reckoned to be the best on the circuit and used by another 50 independent gaming sites.

First-half profits from Empire jumped 87% to $25.5 million on revenues virtually doubled to $49.7 million.

The only small fly in the ointment was that while poker revenues soared, those from virtual casinos dropped slightly due to what the group called an " extraordinary series of jackpots won by the company's players". Pereg said that players directed through its sites to 888.com had won more than $1 million which " statistically has never happened before".

The maiden interim dividend is 3.4 cents.

In another deal, Premier Bet, a UK online group which does not accept bets from US citizens, is coming to the market through a Pounds 1 million reverse takeover of Interactive Gaming Holdings.

Premier Bet does operate a casino and poker website, but its primary activity is fixed-odds betting on soccer aimed at " sophisticated, knowledgeable and value-seeking customers". It had gross betting turnover of Pounds 24.7 million last year.

Interactive will issue 5.55 million new shares, Pounds 500,000 of convertible loan stock which can be converted at 15p a share, and options to subscribe for 5.4 million shares at 18p each any time in the next five years.

World Gaming, a provider of software and technology to online gaming sites which joined the Alternative Investment Market earlier this year, saw net income drop 80% to $328,000 in the three months to end-June. It said this was primarily due to a change of relationship with Sportingbet last autumn which reduced revenues but covered a lot of costs.

The group said like-for-like wagers placed through its servers rose by 33% to $1.6 billion in the last three months.

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