Ending speculation of what would be a monumental shift in the online gaming and poker industry, this afternoon Amaya Gaming, the parent company for PokerStars, and the powerful online and live betting shop William Hill admitted that they are currently in discussion regarding a merger of the companies.
In a joint announcement meant to potentially squelch any potential rumor-mongering, the two companies said, “The Boards of William Hill and Amaya Inc. (have noted) the recent press speculation and confirm that they are in discussions regarding a potential all share merger of equals. The potential merger would be classified as a reverse takeover under the Listing Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority and is not subject to the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers.” In essence, this states that the smaller company – William Hill – would be the one taking over the larger company – Amaya Gaming.
“Amaya has been undertaking a review of its strategic alternatives since February 2016,” the statement continued. “Over recent months, the Board of William Hill has been evaluating options to accelerate William Hill’s strategy of increasing diversification by growing its digital and international business.” The statement does close with a bit of an attempt at staunching the speculation of a deal being imminent, saying, “These discussions are ongoing and there can be no certainty that an agreement will be reached.”
If there isn’t a deal in the works, then the two companies have put together some powerful financial organizations (which would facilitate the move) all for naught. Backing up William Hill are such financial companies as Citigroup Global Markets, Ltd. and the Macquarie Capital entities in both the United States and Europe. In Amaya Gaming’s corner is Barclays Bank, who is handling their end of the negotiations.
If the deal were to reach fruition, it would mark another seismic shift in the online gaming and poker worlds in general and also have an effect on the internet bookmaking operations outside of the United States. Amaya Gaming, as the owner of PokerStars, has aggressively moved into the U. S. through the New Jersey online gaming industry and has also been at the fore of trying to earn passage of regulation in the state of California. William Hill, which has been in the bookmaking business since 1934 and opened up its first online book in 1998, has constantly tried to find other outlets to go with its bookmaking operations. The resulting combination would bring a definitive answer to what is the largest online gaming operation in the industry.
It is a remarkable change from what occurred only a couple of years ago. In 2014, Amaya Gaming was but a minor player in the online gaming world but, with one humongous deal, changed the course of the company. Amaya negotiated the purchase of the Rational Group in June 2014, the group that owned the two largest online poker rooms in the world at that time (PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker). The $4.9 BILLION buyout was unheard of at the time and it would change the course of online poker definitively and online gaming also.
Since that purchase, Amaya Gaming has been attempting to maximize its profits from its purchase to appease its stockholders, but many on the poker community have accused it of giving up on customer service and amenities that its poker offerings once gave to its most valued players. The company also saw the mastermind behind the takeover of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker (Full Tilt Poker was disbanded this spring, with PokerStars taking in their players), David Baazov, lost his position as Chief Executive Officer of Amaya Gaming after being charged with insider trading regarding the deal between Amaya and the Rational Group.
At this time, no further information has been offered by either entity in the discussions. Poker News Daily will continue to monitor the situation.