Groupe Bernard Tapie, Full Tilt Poker to Transfer Assets; Apply for Spanish License
According to a report by Subject:Poker, a deal has been reached between Full Tilt Poker and French investment firm Groupe Bernard Tapie to move forward with the sale of the embattled online poker room. Sources told Subject:Poker that an agreement is in place to allow for the transfer of assets from Full Tilt Poker to Groupe Bernard Tapie.
The report comes about a month after the Department of Justice and Groupe Bernard Tapie came to an agreement that allowed GBT to purchase the forfeited FTP assets from the DOJ for $80 million. As part of the agreement, GBT would repay non-U.S. players, who are owed an estimated $150 million, and the DOJ would be responsible for repaying the U.S. players, which is also estimated to be about $150 million, according to multiple sources.
Sources told Subject:Poker that Full Tilt Poker shareholders voted on the agreement and a majority vote approved the move. A two-thirds majority vote was needed to approve the deal, which was considered the lowest hurdle in the long, complicated process of the prospective sale.
The next step would be the forfeiture of Full Tilt Poker's assets to the DOJ. Groupe Bernard Tapie would then buy the assets from the DOJ.
PokerNews reached out to lawyers for Groupe Bernard Tapie and Full Tilt Poker on Thursday, but both declined to comment.
In other news related to Groupe Bernard Tapie, Spanish news site Poker-Red reported Thursday that the French investment group has applied for a Spanish online gaming license before the new regulated market opens in early 2012. Poker-Red reports that 61 companies submitted applications for an online gambling license in Spain, which will have a segregated gambling market much like Italy, France and Belgium.
An official list of applicants wasn't released, but various operators showed interest before Wednesday's deadline, including PokerStars, bwin.party, 888 and Ladbrokes. Groupe Bernard Tapie would need to repay in full all Spanish players at Full Tilt Poker before a resurrection of the poker site could get under way, according to the Poker-Red report.
Stay tuned to PokerNews.com as more on this story develops.
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