Some rare M&A activity as the nights draw in and the recession deepens: Orbis Holdings, a subsidiary of pay TV technology company NDS owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (NYSE: NWS). has bought online betting developer Electracade for £2.6 million, with more long-term payments due depending on performance. Surrey-based Electracade runs at least

online 119 games, including branded bingo games for Sky.com, bookmakers Ladbrookes and Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI). In the off-line world, Electracade makes scratch card games and owns the exclusive rights to the Top Trumps card games. NDS also owns games technology developer Orbis Technology which created the OpenBet software, which is widely used on gambling sites around the world. Release.