Family behind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker to sell business for £2.9bn
Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars are being sold by the family behind them
The controversial Scheinberg family, based on the Isle of Man, and behind two of the most popular online poker sites in the globe - PokerStars PokerStars PokerStars PokerStars PokerStars PokerStars PokerStars PokerStars PokerStars PokerStars PokerStar Poker - will be selling the controversial company they founded 14-years ago for $4.9bn (PS2.9bn), in a deal supported by Blackstone private equity group.
This sale is intended to end the group’s troubled past in America. Past senior executives, including Isai Scheinberg, have been charged in the US with illegal gambling, bank fraud and money laundering.
The two poker sites were managed by different firms. Both of them were closed down in 2011 and an indictment was brought against their top executives.
Full Tilt, which was then located in Alderney in Channel Islands, quickly became aware of its financial problems and was forced to close down. PokerStars purchased it and made a deal with the US Department of Justice. PokerStars promised not to allow unlicensed online poker to be played in America.
PokerStars agreed that $547m (PS322m), would be forfeited to the US authorities. The deal did not include an admission or excuse for wrongdoing. PokerStars had to expel Isai Schiinberg from any managerial role at the company as part this settlement.
The group's $1.1bn revenue came mainly from European markets last year. One of the largest is the UK. Victoria Coren Mitchell, a poker player who won the PokerStars European Poker Tour twice in April, is a "Team PokerStars Pro" and an affiliate of the company.
Now, the group wants to return to its American players since several states in the US have legalised online poker.
PokerStars is currently licensed in Nevada and New Jersey. PokerStars has been unsuccessful in applying for licences, partly due to its US history. It is believed that cutting ties to the Scheinbergs will be the key to gaining support from US regulators.
Amaya Gaming is buying the business, a Canadian-listed casino and lottery software provider. The deal is being funded by large loans from Blackstone, Deutsche Bank and Barclays.
Amaya agreed to move its listing to an even larger market within 15 month of PokerStars' acquisition. It could join Bwin's London stock market. Party, which is also the owner of PartyPoker - another name that once controlled the US prize online poker market but was disowned by George Bush's anti-online-gambling laws.
PokerStars employs around 400 people in London's West End.
Sources close the Scheinberg family privately claimed that Mark Scheinberg and Isai, their son, currently live in the Isle of Man. This has been going on for some time. According to a source in banking, Mark traveled to the US regularly, but his father, who was also among those being indicted by the FBI, did not. Both sources declined anonymity.
Isai Schiinberg is described by the Department of Justice as "at large". In a 2011 criminal indictment, Scheinberg was described as "founder, principal decision-maker, and owner of PokerStars".
Amaya stresses in the official sale release that PokerStar’s current Isle of Man operating company was founded by Mark Scheinberg and not his father. Mark Scheinberg declared: "I am extremely proud of the business Isai has built over the past fourteen years. The Rise of PokerStars
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