Amaya's Stocks Hit 52-Week High After PokerStars Takeover Receives Green Light
The financial markets gave their blessing to the $4.9 billion deal between Amaya Gaming Group Inc. and the Rational Group Ldt. as the value of Amaya's stocks (AYA) reached their all time high in 52 weeks at the Toronto Stocks Exchange on Tuesday, July 29.
The company's remarkable result followed the announcement that the group has received "all required approvals from the gaming regulatory authorities that currently license Rational Group Ltd. owner and operator of the PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker brands, in connection with Amaya's previously announced acquisition of Rational Group."
Right after the approvals were made public, Amaya's stocks went up 14 percent, closing the day at $29.61 after reaching a peak of 30.67, which represents their highest value during the last 52 weeks.
Now that it has received the needed approvals from the regulatory authorities involved, the transaction can proceed to the very last part of its approval process, which financial aspects will be discussed during a special shareholder meeting to be held on Wednesday, July 30.
"Assuming a favorable outcome at the shareholder's meeting, Amaya and Oldford Group Ltd., the parent company of Rational Group, intend to move expeditiously towards completion of the Transaction," Amaya said in a press released issued on Monday.
The multi-billion deal between Amaya Gaming and the Oldford Group was initially announced on June 12, when a press release confirmed what industry rumors have been discussing for weeks.
"This is a transformative acquisition for Amaya, strengthening our core B2B operations with a consumer online powerhouse that creates a scalable global platform for growth,” said David Baazov, CEO of Amaya.
"Mark Scheinberg pioneered the online poker industry, building a remarkable business and earning the trust of millions of poker players by delivering the industry’s best game experiences, customer service, and online security," Baazov added. "Working with the experienced executive team at Rational Group, Amaya will continue that tradition of excellence and accelerate growth into new markets and verticals."
During a conference call held on June 13, Baazov unveiled plans to develop the former Rational Group's brand to create "a global online gaming powerhouse in a large and growing online gaming market, which H2Gambling Capital estimates to grow up to approximately $42 billion by 2018."
As consequence of this new strategy, during the past weeks Full Tilt Poker has first seen the injection of some of Amaya's most successful casino games into its platform, followed by the announcement of a rebranding operation that is supposed to soon lead to the creation of a brand new all-around online gaming platform named Full Tilt Gaming.
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