On Friday, Groupe Bernard Tapie conditionally acquired the assets belonging to Full Tilt Poker. A press release announcing the sale explained that Tapie representatives would soon be meeting with the DOJ in order to strike a deal to return player funds and potentially absolve the company of its misgivings: “This agreement, which includes the repayment of Full Tilt Poker’s worldwide players in full, is subject to several conditions; the first of which is a favorable resolution with the United States Department of Justice. Discussions with the United States Department of Justice will begin immediately.”Sure enough, negotiations with the DOJ began this morning in New York.
Gaming expert Jeff Ifrah (pictured), who has been associated with Full Tilt Poker, told PocketFives.com in an exclusive interview on Monday, “The investor wants to make sure this is a financially feasible sale. He needs the DOJ to release its hold on the assets and wants to make sure they’re not going to stick to their civil complaint fine of $1 billion.” Allegedly, the DOJ has seized over $300 million in funds belonging to Full Tilt’s processors over the last four years.Ifrah added that a timeline for the completion of the sale and repayment of players could be known as early as this week. As you’ll recall, the DOJ had initially said that player refunds could take “many months at the least.” However, that remark was made prior to the conditional acquisition of the site by Groupe Bernard Tapie on Friday. On Thursday, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission revoked Full Tilt Poker’s license.
Laurent Tapie, Managing Director of Groupe Bernard Tapie, is among those meeting with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York today in order to present the terms of the sale. The DOJ recently called Full Tilt a “global Ponzi scheme” and alleged that the site shelled out over $440 million to its executives and pros, all the while owing players nearly $400 million.
Full Tilt Poker officials previously stated that about a half-dozen companies had visited the site’s headquarters in Dublin to broker a sale. However, none of the groups came away with a deal. Enter Groupe Bernard Tapie, which has turned around over 40 distressed companies, including the sporting giant Adidas.“For a successfully re-launch of the company, you need someone who has at minimum dabbled in the online gaming world,” Ifrah remarked. “Laurent distinguished himself due to his prior experience with Partouche Interactive. He has, within his portfolio, online gaming assets that can be leveraged with the acquisition of an online poker site like Full Tilt. I would like to see someone who understands the market, understands the value of the asset, and has plans to re-launch the site.”
Ifrah continued, “He’s an excellent candidate to take this company to the next level and ensure players get paid back. Even investors with just land-based experience don’t understand the online market. It takes that special kind of person since the market hasn’t been around that long.” Previous rumors had land-based casino tycoon Jack Binion (pictured) tied to purchasing Full Tilt Poker.Reaction to Tapie’s acquisition of Full Tilt has been mixed. In our article announcing the sale of the company that was published on Friday, posters gave their two cents. One optimistically wrote, “This is great news I think. This investor does seem to have the funds to pay back players, or at least U.S. players.”
Another reader was bracing for the worst: “The only good thing to come out of this will be the Yankees getting their money and then [there will be] about a 1% chance the site ends up where it once was: a humming hive of poker playing activity.”
Whether the results of today’s meeting in New York will be made public is not yet known. Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest.
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