Baazov Sells A Third Of His Dominant Stake In Amaya Online Gambling Group

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Mar 10, 2017

Former CEO sells off 7 million shares worth a total of Cdn 133 million… and still has plenty more at home

Embattled former CEO and dominant shareholder of Amaya Group, David Baazov, has sold almost a third of his shares in the company, disposing of 7 million shares for a total of Cdn$133 million or 4.8 percent of Amaya's equity… and he still holds 17.6 million shares or 12.1 percent of the Amaya equity.
Baazov's reason for the sale was reportedly "for investment purposes".
Canadian media reports on the sale included reminders that Baazov, who stepped down as CEO last year, is facing insider trading charges later this year arising from the US$4.9 billion purchase of Pokerstars parent group The Rational Group several years ago by Amaya.
Amaya's share price surged nearly 6 percent as news of the reduction in Baazov's holding went public, perhaps an indicator of how concerned investors have been over his continued association with the brand.
InfoPowa readers will recall that earlier this week a refinancing agreement between Amaya and its lenders included a requirement that no further attempts by "a certain shareholder" to secure control of the company would be entertained. It was widely speculated that the exclusion has Baazov specifically in mind as a result of two recent failed attempts to acquire Amaya.

Online Casino News Courtesy of Infopowa

Brian Cullingworth

Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.

We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.

His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.


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