General Poker Discussion Poker Forums

http://www.subjectpoker.com/2011/11/breaking-gbt-doj-deal/

BREAKING: GBT and DOJ Strike Deal, FTP Sale Pending
After weeks of waiting, Subject: Poker can confirm that Groupe Bernard Tapie and the US Department of Justice have come to terms that allows GBT’s acquisition of Full Tilt Poker to continue. If FTP’s current shareholders agree to acquisition of their company, this deal with the DOJ will provide for payment of all players worldwide.

Multiple sources have confirmed to S that the following email went out this morning to Tiltware shareholders from Ray Bitar:

Dear members,

I am pleased to announce that today the Department of Justice and Groupe Bernard Tapie have reached an agreement in principle regarding the acquisition of the companies comprising FullTiltPoker. My understanding is the deal provides that in exchange for an agreed upon payment by GBT, and a GBT commitment to assume responsibility for payment of ROW players, DoJ will reimburse US players and settle the outstanding civil litigation with the companies comprising FTP. Beyond these conditions, issues like the time frame and process for repayment of players remain unclear at this point and time.

With DoJ’s consent now in hand, GBT may now proceed to finalize an agreement to acquire the companies or assets that comprise FTP. That agreement will very likely address the status of your shares or interests in the successor company. When I receive that agreement, I will coordinate with our attorneys to ensure the terms of that proposed agreement will be shared with the membership and voted on.

-Ray

Final details are still being worked out between GBT and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Subject: Poker hopes to be able to report the full terms of the deal in the coming days. Once this is complete, Groupe Bernard Tapie will be able to propose a deal to acquire Full Tilt Poker directly to its shareholders. Members representing two thirds of ownership interest must vote to approve any such deal.

Subject: Poker has confirmed from numerous sources that, if shareholders agree to GBT’s proposal, Groupe Bernard Tapie will assume responsibility of Full Tilt’s debt to non-US players and the US DOJ will set up a fund to repay US players. We do not know at this time what the timeline for such repayment will be.

If current FTP shareholders agree to the sale, GBT can move on to licensing, making the new company one step closer to launch.1

Again, Subject: Poker is activelyworking to bring our readers the full details of the deal, and we will publish what we know as soon as possible. We typically do not publish such information with so little detail, but we felt that this situation warranted fast publication.

Footnotes

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission, former regulatory body of Full Tilt, said in its press release announcing the revocation of FTP’s licenses “It is important to note that the revocation of FTP’s licences does not, as has been suggested, prevent a reactivation of the business under new ownership and management.” So, GBT may acquire a license from Alderney. ?

Remaining cautiously pleased. I want to know alot more about the details before I have any trust in GBT.

GBT commitment to assume responsibility for payment of ROW players, DoJ will reimburse US players

Great for ROW players, but something tells me this line can't be good for us in the US.

surprised this isn't blowing up on here yet.

Great for ROW players...

I am not familiar with what "ROW Players" means.

I hope that this will speed up the process. It would be very helpful to get that money back. I'm sure everyone involved feels the same.

Rest Of World...or non-US players.

I am not familiar with what "ROW Players" means.

I think it means Rest Of World - ie non US

Spectacularly good news, both for American and RoW players. That is so much better than the best I expected from the US Department of Justice. We're looking to be favorites to get paid now.

surprised this isn't blowing up on here yet.

most people are probably still pretty sceptical and rightly so.

most people are probably still pretty sceptical and rightly so.

I am still not that optimistic like you said. I've counted the money as gone since everything happened and I will still count it as gone until it is back in my bank account.

Well, the DOJ obviously isn't fronting any money for US players, so it will have to come from confiscated funds and remaining balances. Are there enough of those to cover the whole US portion of player debt? Will they take monies from FTP execs too? Clearly they should, but I'm not sure if it will be so easy to access that loot.

https://twitter.com/#!/ZBTHorton/status/131508802741739520

Hmm, the mention of Bernard Tapie doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Tapie#Legal_difficulties

I'm not sure how the DoJ repaying US customers will play out. From my own research it seems unlikely the DoJ has access to enough funds to reimburse players. Does that the DoJ will handle the money going to US players? Does it mean the DoJ has the money?

It'll be interesting to see how this is going down as we get more information.

I certainly am cautiously optimistic, though.

I'm not sure how the DoJ repaying US customers will play out. From my own research it seems unlikely the DoJ has access to enough funds to reimburse players. Does that the DoJ will handle the money going to US players? Does it mean the DoJ has the money?

It'll be interesting to see how this is going down as we get more information.

I certainly am cautiously optimistic, though.

Definitely not enough information to conclude anything from what has been released so far, but one could speculate that the DoJ doesn't trust FTP or its new owners to pay US player, or there are legal liabilities of a foreign company paying US players, or the DoJ simply wants to be the go between for American citizens.

It could be the case that the DoJ will require FTP to disclose the total amount owed to US players and then require the new owners to settle with the DoJ for that amount of money.

All speculation, of course; best to sit back and wait for more details on any deal reached.