Canadian online gambling operator Amaya Gaming plans to rebrand and relocate to Toronto after posting better than expected results in the first quarter of 2017. Figures released Friday show Amaya’s revenue rising 10% year-on-year to $317.3 million in the first three months of 2017, while adjusted earnings shot up 22% to $151 million and net earnings rose 18.5% to $65.7 million, thanks in part to an $11.6 million reduction in general and administrative expenses. The parent company of PokerStars reported online poker revenue inching up 1.1% to $218.7m, the first such rise in three quarters. However, the poker numbers were…

David Baazov, former CEO of Montreal online gaming firm Amaya, benefited from a kickback scheme in which he received payments in exchange for sharing privileged information about company acquisitions with friends and their families, Quebec’s securities regulator alleges. The allegations against Baazov, charged earlier this year following an investigation into accusations of insider trading, are contained in an amended 105-page document that L’Autorite des marches financiers (AMF) filed with the independent tribunal overseeing Quebec’s financial sector. “Several sophisticated agreements were negotiated even before the infractions were committed to pay kickbacks to the tipsters,” alleges the document. The document was filed…

Amaya Gaming, owner of the PokerStars platform, said Friday that former CEO David Baazov has resigned “from all positions” with the company. Baazov took a voluntary leave of absence from his positions as CEO and board chairman following insider trading charges that were made public in March. Baazov pleaded not guilty to the charges stemming from the alleged use of privileged information when trading company shares between December 2013 and the June 2014 deal to acquire PokerStars, the world’s largest poker site, for $4.9 billion. Rafi Ashkenazi, who was appointed interim CEO in March, is now at the helm of…

Amaya INC governance has met with shareholders at yesterday’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), discussing the company’s current position regarding the potential management takeover by former CEO & Chairman David Baazov. Company stakeholders remained tight-lipped regarding discussions, disclosing no information to news sources (media were not allowed at the AGM). The AGM was the first meeting between Amaya governance and investors since Baazov took voluntary leave as Amaya CEO in March, to address ongoing charges by Quebec’s AMF relating to insider trading concerning Amaya’s 2014 acquisition of Rational Group assets PokerStars and Full Tilt. “We’re treating it the way we feel…

Rafi Ashkenazi, interim chief executive of Amaya, has said that the company was able to record year-on-year growth across a host of key finances during the three months through to March 31, despite having had to contend with a number of “unexpected challenges” in the period. Revenue in the first quarter amounted to $288.7 million (€254.8 million), which represents an increase of 6% on the $272.3 million posted in the same period last year. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up 8.7% year-on-year to $123.4 million, with net earnings from continuing operations rocketing 138.5% to $55.5…

To the surprise of no one, the insider trading charges filed by Canadian regulators against former Amaya CEO David Baazov (Baazov has taken a voluntary leave of absence from his position as CEO and Chairman of the Board) are already having a negative impact on efforts to pass an online poker bill in California, and based on some of the comments coming out of the Golden State, it could lead to a major shakeup among the coalitions that have formed between certain stakeholders. The situation PokerStars is now facing has bolstered the company’s detractors, evidenced by tribal lobbyist David Quintana’s…