Buyout by Amaya Could Bring Poker Sites Back to U.S.

A Canadian gambling company has agreed to acquire the parent of the online poker brands PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker for $4.9 billion in a deal that would create the world’s largest online gambling company.

The Amaya Gaming Group, a gambling equipment and services company, said late Thursday that it would acquire the privately held Oldford Group in an all-cash transaction. Oldford, based on the Isle of Man, is the parent company of the Rational Group, the owner and operator of PokerStars and Full Tilt.

The deal is expected to pave the way for the PokerStars and Full Tilt brands to re-enter the United States — nearly three years after the Justice Department seized their websites and hundreds of millions of dollars owed to players in the United States.

Online gambling was considered illegal in the United States for many years, but a reinterpretation of a federal law known as the Wire Act by the Justice Department in December 2011 opened the door for individual states to legalize online bets.

Amaya said it thought the deal would expedite the return of the PokerStars and Full Tilt brands to regulated markets where it already operates, including the United States. The company hasn’t detailed its plans for the United States.

Amaya’s business has been focused primarily on casino and other gambling operators like state lotteries, including making slot machines and providing casino management software programs. The deal with Oldford would be its first consumer venture.

David Baazov, Amaya’s chief executive, called the deal, which requires shareholder approval, “a transformative acquisition.”

Gambling online was largely accepted in the United States from the late 1990s until 2006, when Congress made it illegal for gambling companies to accept bets online for “unlawful” transactions. But in 2011, the Justice Department issued an opinion that the law allowed individual states to permit online gambling.

In the summer of 2011, the Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against the three largest online poker companies operating in the United States — Full Tilt, PokerStars and Absolute Poker — and brought criminal charges against several of their executives.

Prosecutors accused them of hiding the true nature of payments by making it appear that they were for golf balls, jewelry and other items.

In 2012, PokerStars agreed to pay $731 million to settle a lawsuit by the Justice Department and acquired the assets of Full Tilt, which became insolvent after the Justice Department shut down its operations in the United States.

The companies didn’t admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement and maintained that online poker was legal.

Last year, Raymond Bitar, the former Full Tilt chief executive, pleaded guilty to violating a United States law that bars making or processing payments for online gambling and conspiracy. Mr. Bitar avoided prison time because he was awaiting a heart transplant.

Mr. Bitar was one of 11 people charged in the 2011 crackdown.

As part of the deal with Amaya, Mark Scheinberg, the Rational founder and chief executive, and other principals of Oldford will leave the company and its subsidiaries after the completion of the transaction. His father, Isai Scheinberg, is still facing criminal charges in the United States related to the 2011 crackdown.

Severing ties with the Scheinberg family as part of the Amaya deal could ease the way for PokerStars to seek another review for an online gambling license in New Jersey.

In December, New Jersey regulators suspended their review of PokerStars’ application for a gambling license for two years, citing the unresolved federal criminal charges against Isai Scheinberg.

In March, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, introduced a bill that would ban online gambling. The legislation was originally drafted by a lobbyist for the billionaire casino magnate Sheldon G. Adelson, who, with members of his family, has made tens of thousands of dollars in donations to Mr. Graham. The bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

PokerStars and Full Tilt have continued to operate outside the United States since the ban, including in Europe, and have more than 85 million registered users, the companies said.








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Now that's a big purchase 😁

That's some news. Can't wait for these sites! 😁