Gigi Levy, the CEO of online casino 888.com, has announced that they will not buy Cashcade, a popular UK online bingo firm. The two parties have been in negotiations for the past three months, but according to Levy, the deal fell through because the price tag was too high. There has been speculation that no deal was made due to a lack of settlement between 888.com and the US government. Levy denies this claim, stating that they had enough bank financing to get the deal done but “we just didn’t want to pay the price they were asking for.”

 888 was believed to be the front-runner in the Cashcade bidding war, but with them out of the picture, PartyGaming and an undisclosed company will continue bidding for the firm. According to Levy, those companies “are more interested in it and are willing to pay more for it.”

 888 may have decided against purchasing Cashcade, but they will still carry their games despite a change in ownership. Gashcade, the parent company of Foxy Bingo, has a binding contract with 888 that will keep their games on Globalcom Limited, which was bought by 888 in 2007, for at least the next two years.

 Unlike competitors PartyGaming and Sportingbet, 888 has not settled with the US government regarding activities that took place, now considered illegal, before the passing the the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). By settling, the companies gained immunity from prosecution of pre-UIGEA offenses. There has been speculation that a lack of a settlement would hinder 888’s ability to purchase Cashcade, but that has been denied by Levy.