Bei der Ermittlung der kanadischen Börsenaufsicht bei Amaya, gibt es neue Informationen. Wie nun bekanntwurde, stehen drei Mitarbeiter im Verdacht mit Insiderinformationen gehandelt zu haben. Im Zuge der Ermittlungen wurden dazu auch Computer und Datenspeicher beschlagnahmt.
Im Dezember startete die Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) eine Ermittlung bei Amaya. Grund hierfür ist der Aktienverlauf nach der Übernahme von PokerStars, des größten Poker Rooms der Welt. Für die Börsenaufsicht ist es nicht unüblich, hier nachzuforschen, nun gibt es neue Erkenntnisse.
Wie The Globe and Mail berichtet, stehen die im Dezember beantragten Durchsuchungsbefehle nun nicht mehr unter Verschluss. Die Nachrichtenseite beruft sich auf einen Informanten und gibt an, dass bei der Ermittlung im Dezember auch Computer von drei Mitarbeitern von Amaya beschlagnahmt wurden. Die Namen der Personen wurden nicht bekanntgegeben.
Spannend hierbei ist, dass angeblich ein Whistleblower die AMF auf einen möglichen Insiderhandel aufmerksam machte. Der Tipp soll von einem Mitarbeiter von Manulife Securities Inc., einer Firma, die am Mega Deal beteiligt war, gekommen sein. Manulife, sowie die Canaccord Genuity Corp. sind ebenfalls Ziel der Ermittlung.
CEO David Baazov sprach bei der Quartalskonferenz kurz über die Ermittlung und betonte, dass weder die AMF noch die Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) sich über einen konkreten Verdacht geäußert haben. Aufgrund der Meldung von The Globe and Mail veröffentlichte Amaya ein Statement. Auch hier wird noch einmal betont, dass es nur eine Ermittlung ist und keine Anschuldigungen erhoben wurden.
Anmerken muss man auch noch, dass die Gerüchte über eine Übernahme schon recht früh publik wurden und der Aktienkurs von Amaya noch deutlich vor der Bekanntgabe anstieg. Chris Grove von Online Poker Report hat sich die Mühe gemacht und den Kursverlauf genau analysiert.
Statement von Amaya im Original:
Amaya Inc. (TSX: AYA) provided the following statement in response to a Quebec court’s decision today to lift the publication ban on the redacted warrant and supporting affidavit for the search of various entities, including Amaya, in mid-December 2014 by Quebec’s securities regulator, related to its investigation into trading in Amaya securities leading up to the announcement of Amaya’s USD$4.9B acquisition of Oldford Group in 2014:
The release of the redacted documents presents nothing new to Amaya. Amaya has previously received the redacted affidavit and reviewed its limited contents and did not contest the court’s decision today. It will wait to see the actual unredacted affidavit, but it does not believe there is a reasonable basis for proceedings against Amaya or its employees.
Ben Soave, retired Chief Superintendent of the RCMP, a member of Amaya’s Compliance Committee and an advisor to the Board of Directors since 2012, said: “We have thoroughly reviewed the relevant internal activities around its acquisition of Oldford Group and have found no evidence of any violation of Canadian securities laws or regulations including tipping and insider trading by CEO David Baazov and CFO Daniel Sebag. Additionally, the company has not been provided with any evidence that any executives, directors, or employees violated any securities laws or regulations.”
The AMF investigation has not resulted in any proceedings and no charges have been filed. The company is confident that at the end of the investigation the AMF will come to the same conclusion as Amaya has — that if there were violations of Canadian securities laws, they were not committed by the Company, officers or directors.
Certain documentation related to the investigation are and have been sealed by court order and Amaya has not been able to discuss the details of their contents without risking being in contempt of court. This means Amaya has not been and is still not permitted by the court to comment on individuals named in the investigation documents.
Amaya has also yet to obtain an unredacted version of the affidavit since the investigation was first announced. A court ordered seal remains in place related to details of the warrant and the redacted contents of the affidavit.
Upon request, the company has provided regulators with a large amount of publicly accessible information that occurred in the time period leading up to the transaction, including the following:
– The Oldford Group transaction was of significant magnitude and scale, with a long list of external bodies necessarily apprised of the transaction prior to its announcement including government agencies, justice officials, gaming regulators, the stock exchange, banks, funds, law firms and consultants.
– From the day before Amaya signed a letter of intent in January, 2014 to acquire Oldford Group until May 15, 2014, while the company conducted due diligence and worked with external bodies, the price of Amaya’s stock declined. The stock price rose considerably in the week following Amaya’s Q1 2014 press release on May 15, in which the corporation stated it had secured new debt that gave it access to $300 million which could be used to support organic growth and/or a strategic acquisition. Additionally, the corporation provided its 2014 financial guidance and announced that it had provided common share purchase warrants to the lender of the new debt which were priced at $15, approximately double Amaya’s stock price at that time.
– Analysts published reports subsequently that noted Amaya’s history of acquisitions and anticipated Amaya was pursuing a transformative acquisition, with one notably speculating we were looking to buy a poker company to replace the one we had put up for sale.
Due to this run up, fuelled by speculation from a media report and a post on a stock chatroom, Amaya anticipated an investigation and has been fully cooperating with regulators since approximately one week after it announced its acquisition of Oldford Group on June 12, 2014, and has been required to maintain strict confidentiality during the process. Amaya will continue to cooperate with the regulatory authorities.
wpDiscuz