{"id":47655,"date":"2017-04-01T14:00:45","date_gmt":"2017-04-01T21:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=47655"},"modified":"2017-04-01T09:54:56","modified_gmt":"2017-04-01T16:54:56","slug":"david-baazov-cashes-chips-sells-almost-equity-amaya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/david-baazov-cashes-chips-sells-almost-equity-amaya\/","title":{"rendered":"David Baazov Cashes in His Chips, Sells Almost All His Equity in Amaya"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Baazov, the founder and former chairman and CEO of PokerStars parent Amaya Inc, has reduced his stake in the company to around 3.8 percent.<\/p>\n

\"David
Former Amaya founder, largest shareholder and golden boy of online gaming David Baazov is now no more than another face at the annual general meeting after selling over $300 million in shares this month.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Baazov sold off more than $200 million-worth of the company\u2019s stock this week, having disposed of a further $100 million earlier in the month.<\/p>\n

Where he began March as the company\u2019s largest shareholder, with 17.2 percent, <\/span>he\u2019s now close to the back of the dividends queue, when Amaya finally gets around to declaring some.<\/p>\n

Baazov announced, as he did in early March, that the sell-off was for \u201cinvestment purposes.\u201d It recently transpired that the Canadian has formed a new company, Ahaka Capital, a \u201cglobal multi-sector private equity firm.,\u201d according to its website. Ahaka was incorporated last summer and Baazov has been listed as chairman since January.<\/p>\n

Bomb Detection<\/b><\/h2>\n

His partner in the new company, Jake Malczewski, who was previously a lawyer specializing in international tax and M&A at KPMG, announced on his LinkedIn page around the time Baazov<\/a> sold the first lot of Amaya shares that Ahaka had invested in New York-based UVEye.<\/p>\n

UVEye’s primary product is an inspection device for detecting vehicle modifications or anomalies that may pose a security threat, for use in the military and the fight against terrorism. Bomb detection technology, essentially, and something of a departure from the online poker biz.<\/p>\n

\n

But Baazov\u2019s decision to cash in his chips also comes after it had been made clear he was persona non grata <\/i>at Amaya. The former CEO resigned from his executive positions within the company as accusations of insider trading, and an impending trial, had made his position untenable.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But he pressed ahead regardless with his ambition to assume control of the company and take it private, a pursuit he ultimately abandoned in December. His fellow shareholders\u2019 asking price had been just too high, he explained.<\/p>\n

Baazov Frozen Out<\/b><\/h2>\n

Last month, Amaya<\/a> announced it had reorganized its debt to free up spare cash. One of the conditions of this refinancing, imposed by \u201ccertain lenders,\u201d was that the company would not be sold to Baazov, directly or indirectly, in the future.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This would cause a \u201cdefault and potential acceleration of the repayment of the debt under the credit agreement for the first lien term loans,\u201d Amaya warned.<\/p>\n

Amaya borrowed billions when it acquired the Rational Group\u2019s assets, including PokerStars, in 2014, which means the lenders\u2019 threat, if acted upon, would cripple the company.<\/p>\n

Baazov pulled off one of the most audacious coups in the history of the industry when he orchestrated that $4.9 billion takeover, but, three years later, he has been forced to move on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Baazov, the founder and former chairman and CEO of PokerStars parent Amaya Inc, has reduced his stake in the company to around 3.8 percent. Baazov sold off more than $200 million-worth of the company\u2019s stock this week, having disposed of a further $100 million earlier in the month. Where he began March as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":47656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDavid Baazov Cashes in His Chips, Sells Almost All His Equity in Amaya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"David Baazov sells more than $200 million of Amaya shares, reducing his stake in the company all the way down to 3.8 percent.\u00a0 \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"David Baazov Cashes in His Chips, Sells Almost All His Equity in Amaya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"David Baazov sells more than $200 million of Amaya shares, reducing his stake in the company all the way down to 3.8 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