Amaya Inc (TSE:AYA) shares were up 16.6% at C$21.38 on Monday after its founder David Baazov offered to take the company private in a deal worth around C$6.7bn, just weeks after merger talks with UK bookmaker William Hill (LON:WMH) fell apart.
According to a filing to the Toronto stock exchange, Baazov and his financial backers are offering C$24 for each outstanding common share for the Quebec-based company in an equity-and-debt deal. If accepted, the offer price would represent a 31% premium on Amaya’s closing share price on Friday.
The offer, including debt and transaction costs, is valued at C$6.7bn, Amaya said in a regulatory filing.
The equity portion of the deal would be C$4.1bn and will be mostly financed by four funds, which have committed C$3.65bn and Baazov's own shares valued at C$427mln.
Amaya owns Pokerstars and Full Tilt.