Amaya breaks silence over PokerStars deal investigation
Gaming giant releases statement after Quebec court allows documents relating to PokerStars takeover to be published
Amaya Gaming has broken its silence over the ongoing investigation into its $4.9bn acquisition of the Rational Group by financial regulators, after a Quebec court lifted a publication ban on documents relating to the case.
A court in the province took the decision to lift the publication ban on the redacted warrant and supporting affidavit for the search of various entities related to the transaction, including Amaya, after an investigation was launched in December 2014.
The investigation is being carried out by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the securities regulatory authority in Quebec, and is looking at “trading activities in Amaya securities” in the run up to its acquisition of the PokerStars and Full Tilt parent company.
Amaya said the release of the redacted documents “presents nothing new” and that it had previously received the redacted affidavit and “reviewed its limited contents” and “did not contest the court’s decision” to lift the ban.
It added it had yet to see the actual unredacted affidavit, but did not believe there was “reasonable basis for proceedings against Amaya or its employees”.
Other documentation relating to the investigation has been sealed by court order, meaning Amaya has been unable to discuss the details of their contents without risking being in contempt of court, including the individuals named in the investigation.
Ben Soave, a member of Amaya’s compliance committee, said they had “thoroughly reviewed the relevant internal activities” around the PokerStars acquisition and “found no evidence” of any violation of Canadian securities laws or regulations “including tipping and insider trading” by Amaya CEO David Baazov and CFO Daniel Sebag.
“Additionally, the company has not been provided with any evidence that any executives, directors, or employees violated and securities laws or regulations,” Soave added.
Amaya said the AMF investigation has “not resulted in any proceeding and no charges have been filed” to date.
The also firm said it was “confident” at the end of the investigation the AMF would “come to the same conclusion” as Amaya – “that if there were violations of Canadian securities laws, they were not committed by the company, officers or directors.”
Amaya’s share price was down 2% at CA$31.32 at market close yesterday.