Lord Leonard Steinberg to chair Tradal?

The speculation that online casino group Tradal is going for a public listing was revitalised this week when news broke that the chairman of Stanley Leisure, Lord Leonard Steinberg is to join the Tradal board as chairman.

The online casino group operates Empire Poker, and over the past few months has been repeatedly reported to be planning a London flotation of GBP 550 million. Steinberg, a respected personality in land-based casino gaming, joins Tradal shortly after the company hired stockbroker Numis to guide its future listing.

Steinberg recently sold off the bookmaking area of his own business to William Hill, and is now focused on the more upscale Mayfair Casinos. The main focus of Tradal's business is providing customers for other online gambling sites, such as Party Poker, which has been planning an IPO of its own for some time.