Baazov abandons talks to acquire Amaya

David Baazov, the former CEO of the Amaya Group and prospective multi-billion-dollar buyer of the company, announced Tuesday that he has ended acquisition talks, claiming that some Amaya shareholders were demanding too high a premium.

Reporting on the end of the acquisition initiative, the Reuters news agency says that the news was greeted with an immediate 3 percent decline in Amaya’s share price, taking it down to Cdn$14 levels.

Our readers will recall that Baazov offered to buy the Amaya in mid-November for Cdn$24 a share in a deal valued at about Cdn$4.1 billion. Including debt and transaction costs, the deal was for Cdn$6.7 billion.

His financing arrangements for the deal came into sharp focus when one of his alleged backers, KBC Aldini Capital denied its involvement.

Baazov said he would find a new financial source in addition to his confimed backers, the Head & Shoulders Global Investment Fund, Hong Kong-based Goldenway Capital and Ferdyne Advisory, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands.

William Hill plc and GVC Holdings plc have in the recent past been linked to unsuccessful acquisition approaches regarding Amaya.