Groupe Bernard Tapie Closing in on Deal for Full TiltSale Would Pay Back More Than $300 Million Owed to Players |
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Rumors have been circulating in the poker community that Groupe Bernard Tapie, a French company seeking to purchase beleaguered Full Tilt Poker, has struck an agreement with the Department of Justice that would permit the acquisition.
Jeff Ifrah, attorney for Full Tilt’s CEO Ray Bitar, told Card Player: “I have not seen final paperwork but I believe a deal in principle has been reached.” The Department of Justice said it cannot provide confirmation.
The deal would allegedly facilitate paying out the more than $300 million owed to players worldwide.
The online poker site announced in late September that the sale would be contingent on resolving its case with the Department of Justice. Earlier in the month Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the company a “global Ponzi Scheme.”
News broke in June that the company had signed an agreement with a group of European investors in order to pay back players, however, nothing materialized.
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.
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