Party officially bids for Empire
 

Not much info, but it has gone from rumor to fact.

And some commentary from the British press
 

First mainstream media article I've seen that actually mentions rakeback. Points off for the Kenny Rodgers reference.

Very interesting. Can't say I'm all that surprised.

-Party/Empire grow together, but Party was always bigger and better.
-Empire offers more bonuses, affiliates offer rakeback, "stealing" customers from Party.
-Party breaks partnership, causing thousands of players to move from Empire back to Party to find the juicy games.
-Empire's net worth drops dramatically.
-And now, finally, Party offers to BUY Empire at a massively lower price than the site was worth just a couple of months ago.

It's kinda dirty, but also quite genius.