David Baazov has formally resigned from his position as Chief Executive Officer of Amaya. He will also be relinquishing his Chairman title, with Rafi Ashkenazi taking over the role permanently.
This comes after Baazov’s choice to take an open-ended leave in March, amid accusations of insider trading and a possible purchase of the company.
Although he maintains roughly 18.5% ownership of the company’s stock, Amaya verified in its second quarter and initial half reports that Baazov will no longer be serving in these capacities.
Reports surfaced in June that neither Baazov nor Chief Financial Officer Daniel Sebag would be pursuing re-election, and these recent events appear to corroborate that. However, it is still uncertain if Baazov plans to pursue a complete acquisition of the company, or if his shares will be made available for purchase.
These allegations of insider trading emerged in March, when Quebec’s securities regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), levied 23 charges against Baazov and five other individuals connected to him.
Baazov himself faces five of these charges, which directly pertain to “assisting with trades while possessing confidential information, manipulating or attempting to manipulate the market value of Amaya Inc. securities, and disclosing privileged information.”
Canadian regulators (AMF) have charged multiple individuals with insider trading. These parties allegedly utilized confidential information regarding Amaya Inc.’s stock to execute trades from December 2013 to June 2014.
This allegation follows Amaya’s substantial $4.9 billion purchase of the Oldford Group, the holding company of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, in June 2014.
Departing Amaya CEO David Baazov conveyed satisfaction with the company’s expansion and promised ongoing backing for its direction and leadership. Amaya, in return, acknowledged Baazov’s efforts, particularly during the company’s swift growth phase.
Rafi Ashkenazi, who joined Amaya in 2013 as COO of the Rational Group (supervising PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker), has formally assumed the role of CEO. He had been acting as interim CEO since March. Divyesh Gadhia, formerly the interim Chairman, has also been permanently appointed to the position.
Amaya also published its financial results, emphasizing an 8% year-over-year revenue rise, reaching C$574.6 million (approximately £340.9 million) for the first six months of the year. Net income from continuing operations experienced a considerable surge, climbing by 163% to C$7.8 million over the corresponding period.
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