{"id":43130,"date":"2016-12-20T11:29:21","date_gmt":"2016-12-20T19:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=43130"},"modified":"2016-12-20T12:25:27","modified_gmt":"2016-12-20T20:25:27","slug":"david-baazov-pulls-the-plug-on-amaya-offer-deal-now-off-the-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/david-baazov-pulls-the-plug-on-amaya-offer-deal-now-off-the-table\/","title":{"rendered":"David Baazov Pulls the Plug on Amaya Offer, Deal Now Off the Table"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s an undone deal for David Baazov. The ex-Amaya CEO<\/a> announced Tuesday that he has ditched his bid to buy Amaya, the parent of PokerStars and Full Tilt. A press release issued by Baazov revealed that negotiations between both parties had broken down when shareholders\u2019 asking price became too rich for his blood.<\/p>\n

\"david-baazov-amaya-offer-off-the-table\"
It\u2019s been a year to forget for David Baazov, who went from Amaya CEO and chairman to failed takeover bid amid a host of legal entanglements, all inside of a 12-month time span. (Image: pokerfuse.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thus brings to end an eventful, and occasionally baffling, takeover attempt that’s spanned a year between conception and abortion. It was a year in which Baazov was charged with securities fraud, resigned as Amaya chairman and CEO, and yet pressed on regardless with his ambition to take the company private.<\/p>\n

Premium \u201cToo High\u201d<\/h2>\n

“The decision to\u00a0terminate my attempted acquisition of\u00a0Amaya\u00a0was not an easy one,\u201d said Baazov in the presser. \u201cI retained\u00a0a full suite of\u00a0advisors, arranged\u00a0committed\u00a0financing, and engaged in constructive negotiations with Amaya’s board of directors.\u00a0I submitted an unconditional, fully financed offer of\u00a0$24\u00a0per share, higher than my original announced intention to submit a\u00a0$21\u00a0per share offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, during the discussions\u00a0it became\u00a0evident that the share price premium demanded by certain shareholders\u00a0exceeded\u00a0the price at which\u00a0my investors and I\u00a0would\u00a0be willing to complete a transaction.\u00a0After consulting with my advisors, I determined that the best course of action for me and Amaya would be for me to end my attempt to purchase the Company,\u201d Baazov’s statement ended.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The former chief first announced his intention to prepare a bid at the beginning of February, but when insider trading charges broke in March, they appeared to derail the proposal.<\/p>\n

Undeterred, Baazov, who vigorously denies the charges hanging over him, returned in November to announce he had secured financing for a $6.7 billion bid to take over the firm. Except that he hadn\u2019t. Within days, one of the companies listed as a backer, KBC Aldani Capital<\/a>, said it had no knowledge of the deal and had never even heard of Amaya.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear exactly how this happened. One possible explanation that’s been bandied about is that Baazov was stiffed by a middle man claiming to represent KBC, but he has never confirmed or even addressed this rumor publicly.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuspicious\u201d Bid<\/h2>\n

While he returned with an amended bid, it seemed his credibility had been damaged by the fiasco. Activist investor Jason Ader, who owns one percent of Amaya, publicly said the bid was suspicious and lacked in credibility. He called on Baazov to increase the offer and provide more details about his financial sources.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the founder of Amaya this was not a decision I took lightly, as it was always my intent to arrive at an outcome that was in the best interests of all shareholders,\u201d said Baazov om Tuesday. \u201cI wish my friends and former colleagues at Amaya continued success in driving value for all shareholders.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s an undone deal for David Baazov. The ex-Amaya CEO announced Tuesday that he has ditched his bid to buy Amaya, the parent of PokerStars and Full Tilt. A press release issued by Baazov revealed that negotiations between both parties had broken down when shareholders\u2019 asking price became too rich for his blood. Thus brings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":43139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,21,10,19,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDavid Baazov Pulls the Plug on Amaya Offer, Deal Now Off the Table<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former company head David Baazov has dropped his bid to acquire Amaya. 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