Amaya Acquires The Owner of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker

Amaya Gaming Group Inc. and Oldford Group Limited, the parent company of Rational Group Ltd, which owns and operates PokerStar and Full Tilt Poker brands, announced on June 12th, 2014 they have entered an agreement for Amaya to acquire 100% of the shares of the Oldford Group for $4.9 billion. This deal will make Amaya the largest publicly-traded online gaming company in the world. Mark Scheinberg, Rational's founder and CEO will resign as soon as the transaction is completed. The press release states that  "Rational Group's executive management team will be retained and online poker services provided by PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker will be unaffected by the transaction, with players continuing to enjoy uninterrupted access to their gaming experience." PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker have a combined total of 85 million registered users.

Amaya intends to introduce more casino games into the Full Tilt Poker platform to strengthen its position in sports betting, casino gaming, and social gaming. Further plans include returning of PokersStars and Full Tilt Poker to the US ground: "Amaya believes the transaction will expedite the entry of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker into regulated markets in which Amaya already holds a footprint, particularly the USA."

There are 14 online casinos that use Amaya software in KeyToCasino database. Such brands as Inter Casino, Expect Casino, and Ceasars Casino are among them. In addition, the users may find 133 online casinos that also offer poker rooms.