Senior Amaya executives to join Baazov takeover effort

Amaya has announced that four members of its senior management team are set to join president, chairman and chief executive, David Baazov, in his takeover bid for the gambling company.

Baazov last week revealed plans to buy the firm for approximately CDN$21.00 (€13.5/US$15.1) per common share, in a deal that would value the company at around CDN$2.8 billion.

Amaya has now said in a statement that its “executive vice-president, corporate development and general counsel, along with three other employees, may be participating in Mr Baazov's potential transaction proposal”.

Although Amaya did not name the staff involved, Marlon Goldstein currently serves in the executive vice-president role mentioned in the statement.

Amaya also used the statement to confirm that its board of directors has formed a special committee to address any potential bid, while Barclays Capital Canada has been appointed as financial advisor for the move.

Baazov, who founded Amaya in 2004 and led the company’s $4.9bn takeover of the PokerStars and Full Tilt brands in 2014, owns approximately 18.6% of the total issued and outstanding common shares in the company.

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