London pre-open: Slight rise expected

22nd Dec 2009 07:36

Footsie is expected to top up yesterday's strong gains in early dealings.Online poker and casino group 888 Holdings has agreed to pay almost £60m for the Wink Online Bingo business and says trading continues to be strong and in line with expectations. The UK mid-cap will buy Wink Bingo, which runs several online bingo networks including Wink Bingo, Posh Bingo and Bingo Fabulous, for an initial consideration of £11m.Gem Diamonds subsidiary Kimberley Diamonds has entered into an agreement to sell yellow diamonds from the Ellendale mine in Western Australia to Laurelton Diamonds, which is owned by the US jeweller Tiffany.A Carillion joint venture has been awarded a £157m contract to design, build, finance and maintain Phase 1b of Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).The Office of Fair Trading has decided to drop its action to curb bank charges after last month's ruling by the Supreme Court in favour of the banks. 'The Supreme Court judgment was not the outcome we had hoped for and was disappointing for many bank customers. Having now considered in detail all the options available to us in light of the judgment, we have decided not to continue what would be a narrow investigation with limited prospects of success," John Fingleton, the OFT chief executive said.