Amaya Gaming has confirmed the completion of its sale of Cadillac Jack as the company focuses more on its core businesses PokerStars and Full Tilt.
Cadillac Jack was sold to AGS, an affiliate of funds managed by Apollo Global Management, LLC, for $476 million.
“Cadillac Jack has expanded its business greatly under Amaya’s ownership to the credit of its management and its employees,” said Amaya’s Chairman and CEO David Baazov. “It has enhanced its operational efficiencies and expanded its business both geographically, including acquiring multiple U.S. state commercial licenses, and by markets, including expansion in Class III and online gaming. We anticipate its combination with AGS will expedite the company’s growth strategy.”
“We are extremely pleased that we have been able to crystallize on the value that has been created within Cadillac Jack over the past two-and-a-half years for the benefit of our shareholders,” added Baazov. “The transaction results in both a strong return on our investment and a significant deleveraging event that puts us on the path to achieving our previously guided Adjusted Net Leverage Ratio2 of 4.0 to 4.5 by the end of the year. It is also consistent with our strategy to focus on our primary growth platform, our core B2C operations.”
PokerStars rolls out UK betting product
Amaya-owned online gaming brand PokerStars has launched its new sports betting product in the UK market.
The new operation was open in time for customers to place bets on Saturday’s English FA Cup final between Arsenal and Aston Villa.
The service is currently only accepting bets on football, tennis, basketball, ice hockey, rugby union, volleyball and handball, but will be expanded to other sports in the near future.
Customers are able to access the sports betting service through the PokerStars 7 client on desktop as well as both Android and iOS mobile devices.
The operator also noted that customers can use their existing PokerStars login details to access the sports betting service and that there is no need to create a new account.
Amaya senior management plan cross-sell initiatives of its poker players to new casino and sports betting verticals, a strategy for the company’s future growth plans.
