Full Tilt Poker Claims Sale to French InvestorAcquisition Would Be Contigent on Resolution with U.S. DOJ |
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The Associated Press reported on Friday that insolvent Full Tilt Poker is claiming it reached a tentative agreement to be sold to Groupe Bernard Tapie. The acquisition would facilitate paying out the more than $300 million owed to players worldwide.
Full Tilt said that the sale would be contingent on resolving its case with the Department of Justice. Last week Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called Full Tilt Poker a “global Ponzi Scheme.” Jeff Ifrah, attorney for Full Tilt’s CEO Ray Bitar, told Card Player that the investor will meet with the DOJ next week.
Full Tilt said Groupe Bernard Tapie has a reputation for turning bankrupted businesses around. In the 1980s, former chairman Bernard Tapie allegedly made more than 40 defunct companies profitable. Tapie, the 68-year-old former owner of Addias, spent time in prison in 1997 after being convicted of bribing soccer players to throw a match and was also convicted for tax fraud in a non-related case.
iGaming France confirmed the report in an interview with Bernard’s son Laurent, current manager of Groupe Bernard Tapie. The younger Tapie said that he is confident in the Full Tilt project and has the funds to repay players, but that there is “still a long way to go.”
The announcement comes just one day after the Alderney Gambling Control Commission revoked the company’s operating license, citing that Full Tilt “fundamentally misled” regulators. On Friday in an article from eGaming Review Magazine, AGCC director Andre Wilsenach called the site “wicked.” It is unclear whether the alleged sale to Tapie could lead to the AGCC reinstating the company’s license.
Friday’s statement from Full Tilt also comes three months after the L.A. Times reported that attorneys associated with company who wished to remain anonymous said it had signed an agreement with a group of European investors in order to pay back players.
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