Interesting Facts Regarding Amaya Gaming's Acqusition Of PokerStars
June 17, 2014 6:11 pmA few days on since Amaya Gaming first announced its $4.9 billion acquisition of PokerStars, industry experts are now beginning to unravel the seismic deal and some of the implications it may have for the future of internet gambling.
A particular interesting point is the extraordinarily large amount of money Amaya Gaming paid for PokerStars, with a sales price agreed that is a whopping 15.5 times its 2013 cash flow, and 11.1 times its EBITDA. Other huge public-traded igaming companies, for instance, now represent a mere fraction of PokerStars’ worth, including Playtech valued at $3.1 billion, Bwin.party at $1.5 billion, and 888 at $704 million.
Another point of interest is the fact that up until now Amaya Gaming’s core business has consisted of developing and supplying online games and platforms to the regulated online gaming industry, and so the company’s acquisition of PokerStars sees Amaya complementing its B2B businesses with the considerable B2C poker business of the Rational Group. Commenting on the deal, Amaya CEO David Baazov, said:
“This is a transformative acquisition for Amaya, strengthening our core B2B operations with a consumer online powerhouse that creates a scalable global platform for growth.. Working with the experienced executive team at Rational Group, Amaya will continue that tradition of excellence and accelerate growth into new markets and verticals.”
Be that as it may, it seems clear that once PokerStars is bought the site will be transformed far beyond the poker-only format which has made it a refuge for poker players wanting to avoid the pitfalls of other less skilled gambling games, such as roulette and slots. Ironically, this may account for the high price paid by Amaya as the company intends to extend PokerStars sphere of influence away from just the global online poker market estimated to be worth $4 billion, to also include that of casino games worth around $25 billion worldwide.
“[Rational’s] companies do not only have the ability to attract new players, but they are also able to offer popular tables and slot games to their millions of players using their poker platforms.. We estimate we can become a strong operator in the [sports betting] market in a few years, keeping the existing online poker players from spending their dollars on other sports book operators.”
This, of course, may not be welcomed by the poker community which is likely to see its poker ecology shrunk as fish and tilting players head towards the casino to blow off their bankrolls, instead of recycling their money via the site’s poker rooms.
Another key point of the deal is the expectation PokerStars may subsequently make a return to the US market. However, it is not at all clear whether the acquisition will enable PokerStars to shed its bad actor label, and even if it did expectations that it may single-handedly be able to transform the country’s nascent industry into its pre-Black Friday glory days may have to be lowered considerably.