In a series of behind-the-scenes purchases, a Hong Kong investor has been gathering up shares of PokerStars’ parent company The Stars Group (TSG). The investor began his quest in earnest last year, but this only followed previous attempts to grab a major piece of the action. Those earlier attempts were rejected by TSG, then 
known as Amaya Gaming.
Tang Hao, a Hong Kong-based serial investor, now owns 17.9% of the company. It makes him, through his Discovery Key Investments Limited (DKIL), the second-largest shareholder of common shares. He signed an agreement with TSG to purchase the shares and to appoint an observer member to the company’s board of directors. Once the observer, Melvin Yanmin Zhang, and Hao received approval for some requisite licenses, they would both become full directors as per the agreement.
DKIL now owns 26,455,200 common shares in TSG. It sits behind Caledonia Investments who holds 29,353,153 shares. Since Hao solely owns DKIL, the recent purchase makes him the single biggest individual shareholder of TSG shares.
According to records, Hao could possibly the same individual that once backed now-disgraced former PokerStars CEO David Baazov. An individual by the name of Hao Tang was the former CEO of Goldenway Capital, a company out of Hong Kong that supported Baazov’s failed attempt to acquire Amaya in 2016.
That deal fell flat when TSG backers blocked Baazov’s participation, renegotiating deals that would penalize the world’s largest online poker site if Baazov were able to acquire any part of the company. After Goldenway Capital wasn’t able to grab a piece of the action through Baazov, it appears that Tang Hao (or Hao Tang, if it’s the same person) wasn’t intent on letting go, and now secured a director’s position of his own accord.
There is no evidence that Baazov is involved in the latest negotiations, but the share purchase by Hao could ultimately lead to a run for TSG control. However, TSG executives don’t feel that it’s likely to see something like that happen, stating, “Mr. Tang will not acquire greater than 20% of the outstanding common shares of The Stars Group prior to the 2020 annual general meeting of shareholders other than by way of a negotiated transaction approved by The Stars Group board of directors or by way of formal takeover bid for all of the outstanding common shares of The Stars Group.”
