Former Amaya Inc. CEO David Baazov has offloaded an 8.2% stake in the Canadian online gambling company. He sold 12,000,000 shares of Amaya for a price of C$22.31 per share or a total of C$267.7 million.
Earlier this month Mr. Baazov disposed of 7,000,000 shares for a price of $19 per share or an aggregate amount of C$133 million.
Following the two recent disposals, Amaya’s former chief now owns around 3.8% of the company’s issued capital.
Mr. Baazov left the gambling operator last year after the Québec securities regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) announced that he was the object of an insider trading investigation. The probe was related to Amaya’s purchase of the Rational Group, the owner of the PokerStars and Full Tilt online poker brands.
Mr. Baazov and two other Amaya employees – Benjamin Ahdoot and Yoel Altman – had allegedly traded Amaya stock while in possession of qualified information over a certain period of time before the Canadian operator purchased the Rational Group from former owners Isai and Mark Scheinberg. Amaya paid the record amount of $4.9 billion for the online poker operator, thus sealing the most expensive deal in the history of online gambling.
The AMF brought Mr. Baazov’s case to Québec Court. The trial is set to begin on November 20, 2017. Lawyers have suggested that the trial will continue more than four months. The AMF will call over 50 witnesses to give their accounts on the case.
Earlier this month, Amaya announced that it had restructured its debt, adding provisions that would prevent Mr. Baazov from making new attempts to buy the company and take it private. The operator’s former CEO announced such intention early in 2016.
He made an official C$3.5-billion takeover bid in November, but a series of unfortunate events mainly related to the questionable financial backing of the offer forced him to back off.
Restructuring its debt, Amaya added a provision that would void any direct or indirect takeover bid from Mr. Baazov. The Canadian company has thus shown clear indication that it wants to distance itself from its former head.
Although the operator seems to be trying its best to avoid being purchase by Mr. Baazov, it may be ready to put itself up for sale or a merger. Last fall, Amaya entered consolidation talks with major UK bookmaker William Hill. A potential merger would have created a £5-billion gambling behemoth with operations across multiple platforms and jurisdictions. However, William Hill shareholders did not perceive the deal as one that would have benefited the operator and talks fell apart in their early stage.
The challenging iGaming regulatory environment and growing competition within the sector may in future urge Amaya into new M&A discussions with a suitable partner.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from the global gambling industry.
