Buckingham Bingo in bingo buy-out difficulty

Bingo companies - many of them owned by private equity - face particular problems, as customer numbers are down since the introduction last year of the smoking ban in public places and the industry has had to endure regulatory and fiscal changes which have ruined turnover and profitability.

"The company is still profitable, but we have seen step down in attendance and profits are down in line with the rest of the bingo sector," Mr Moulton said.

"If you can find a bingo group doing well, we would like to see it."

Last week Alistair Darling, the chancellor, turned down the bingo industry lobby for tax relief and instead increased its fiscal burden by an index-linked rise for duty on gaming machines.

It is very ironic to onlinebingo.net that Mr Moulton has been one of the most vocal critics of his industry with numerous TV apperances of late he has used this platform to complain about the way credit has been managed in the banking sector.

"There will be large private equity failures this year and next, and press and politicians will get on to us," he told a conference in Munich last month.

Alchemy invested more than £60m of equity in Buckingham Bingo, which operates 11 bingo halls, mostly in the north of England. Profits increased by one third to £3.5m in the year to April 2007, according to accounts filed with companies house. Turnover was flat at £23.9m. Barclays is owed about £55.6m by Full House Acquisitions, the vehicle used to acquire Buckingham Bingo in December 2005.

The company is understood not to have breached its debt covenants. However private equity firms in increasing numbers are expected to face a similar tough choices as companies they acquired at peak valuations with record amounts of debt in the recent bull market are affected by shrinking earnings during an expected economic slowdown