MONTREAL,
March 23, 2016 /CNW/ -
Amaya Inc. (NASDAQ: AYA; TSX: AYA) today provided an update
regarding the previously reported investigation by the Autorité des
marchés financiers (AMF), the securities regulatory authority in
the Province of Quebec. The AMF
has charged Amaya's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
David Baazov, for aiding with trades
while in possession of privileged information, influencing or
attempting to influence the market price of Amaya securities and
communicating privileged information but has made no allegation of
wrongdoing by Amaya or any of its subsidiaries or other directors
or officers.
The charges related to communicating privileged
information involve allegations relating to a former financial
advisor to Amaya, and the charges relating to influencing or
attempting to influence the market price of Amaya securities
involve allegations relating to that same advisor and an employee.
Mr. Baazov denies the allegations against him, and Amaya believes
they are without merit and expects Mr. Baazov will be fully
exonerated.
Amaya does not anticipate the charges will have any impact
on the management or day-to-day affairs of the operating business.
Operations continue as usual and there will be no change to the
PokerStars or Full Tilt product offerings, either in customer
experience, player fund security or game integrity. Amaya will
continue to communicate with its regulators and does not currently
anticipate any material negative impact on its current or potential
licenses, approvals or partnerships as a result of the allegations
against Mr. Baazov.
"David Baazov has the full
support of the independent members of the board," said Dave Gadhia, Amaya's Lead Director and
independent board member, and the former Executive Vice Chairman
and CEO of Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Inc. "As noted
previously, Amaya conducted an external internal review, supervised
by its independent board members with the assistance of external
legal counsel from Osler, Hoskin
& Harcourt LLP in Canada and
Greenberg Traurig LLP in the U.S., which thoroughly reviewed the
relevant internal activities surrounding the Oldford Group
acquisition. This review found no evidence of any violations of
Canadian securities laws or regulations. The independent members of
the board received and reviewed the information and concluded that
no action should be taken. We have not been provided with any new
information upon which the AMF's allegations of infractions are
based."
Amaya continues to cooperate with the AMF and has done so
since the AMF first began its investigation in 2014, which is
consistent with company practice. Amaya previously provided the AMF
with a large amount of publicly accessible information related to
in the time period leading up to the transaction, specifically the
period the AMF is investigating. A summary of such information will
be available on Amaya's website at www.amaya.com.
About Amaya
Amaya is a leading provider of technology-based products
and services in the global gaming and interactive entertainment
industries. Amaya owns gaming and related consumer businesses and
brands including PokerStars, Full Tilt, BetStars, StarsDraft, the
European Poker Tour, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Latin American
Poker Tour and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour. These brands have more
than 100 million cumulative registered customers globally and
collectively form the largest poker business in the world,
comprising online poker games and tournaments, live poker
competitions, branded poker rooms in popular casinos in major
cities around the world, and poker programming created for
television and online audiences. Amaya, through certain of these
brands, also offers non-poker gaming products, including casino,
sportsbook and daily fantasy sports. Amaya has various gaming and
gaming-related licenses or approvals throughout the world,
including from the United Kingdom,
Italy, France, Spain, Estonia, Belgium, Denmark, Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Romania, the Isle of
Man, Malta, the State of
Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario in Canada, and the State of New Jersey in the United States.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking
Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 and applicable securities laws, including, without
limitation, certain expectations and projections related to legal
proceedings. Forward-looking statements can, but may not always, be
identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate",
"plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project",
"predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might",
"would", "should", "believe", "objective", "ongoing", "assumes",
"goal" and similar references to future periods or the negatives of
these words and expressions and by the fact that these statements
do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. These
forward-looking statements are based on management's current
expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties,
and assumptions, including market and economic conditions, future
plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends
and regulatory changes that affect us, our customers and our
industries. Although Amaya and management believe that the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable and based on reasonable assumptions and estimates, there
can be no assurance that these assumptions or estimates are
accurate or that any of these expectations will prove accurate.
Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to significant
business, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties and
contingencies that could cause actual events to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in such statements. Such
risks and uncertainties include those identified under the
heading "Risk Factors and Uncertainties" in Amaya's Annual
Information Form for the year ended December
31, 2015 and "Risk Factors and Uncertainties" and
"Limitations of Key Metrics and Other Data" in its Management's
Discussion and Analysis for the periods ended December 31, 2015, each available on
SEDAR at www.sedar.com, EDGAR at www.sec.gov and
Amaya's website at www.amaya.com, and in other filings that
Amaya has made and may make with applicable securities authorities
in the future. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks
only as of the date hereof, and Amaya undertakes no obligation to
correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by applicable law.
SOURCE Amaya Inc.