Amaya Poised to Complete Rational Group Deal
The Canadian gaming provider, Amaya Gaming, is poised to complete the Rational Group deal. While the deal was announced in June, Amaya Gaming has now announced that it has received the necessary regulatory approval to acquire the Rational Group. The approval of the authorities that license the Rational Group operations was needed before the deal could proceed.
The Rational Group operates the well-known PokerStars online poker website, and also the Full Tilt Poker brand. When the US$4.9 million deal for the Amaya Gaming acquisition of the Rational Group was announced, there were some conditions that needed to be fulfilled in order to complete the deal.
Toronto Stock Exchange Conditional Approval for Amaya
While it is unlikely that a deal of this magnitude will fall through after it has been announced publicly, there are always conditions that need to be met for the deal to be finalised. There are some conditions such as the approval of the proposed financing. In order to make the final financial transaction decisions, an annual and special meeting has been set up in order to allow Amaya's shareholders consider the issues.
Regulatory approval has been given from the various jurisdictions in which the Rational Group is licensed. This included approval from gaming jurisdictions in Malta, and the Isle of Man, and from the French gaming regulator, ARJEL, amongst others.
An Amaya Gaming statement noted: "Amaya also announced that it has received conditional approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange regarding the proposed transaction and the listing of Amaya common shares issuable in connection with the planned financing of the proposed transaction, including those underlying warrants, subscription receipts and convertible preferred shares issued in relation to the planned financing."
the Amaya statement noted that "assuming a favourable outcome at the Shareholder's Meeting," it is expected that the transaction between Amaya Gaming, and the Rational Group's parent company, Oldford Gaming, will move forward at a good pace.
The Future of PokerStars
There have been many questions regarding the future of the online poker site, PokerStars, and whether the takeover by Amaya will give the online poker site a fresh start. It appears that following the takeover transaction, the senior management team at PokerStars will remain the same, however, Mark Scheinberg, the PokerStars Chief Executive, will be resigning from Oldford and its subsidiaries. This move should pave the way for PokerStars operations in the United States. After the initial announcement that Amaya Gaming would be buying out Oldford, PokerStars re-opened it request for licensing approval in New Jersey.
