Canadian police raid Amaya Gaming
Update: Since the publication of this article, it has been reported that Amaya was "visited" rather than "raided" by authorities.
The Montreal headquarters of Amaya Gaming Group were raided by federal Canadian police officers on Wednesday, as part of an investigation into the provider’s takeover of online poker rooms PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.
Two Canadian financial firms are also being investigated, with investment bank Canaccord Genuity and insurance firm Manulife Financial also visited by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Autorite des Marches, a financial market regulator.
Amaya spokesperson Eric Hollreiser said: “Amaya is cooperating in an investigation by the Autorité des Marchés financiers, the securities regulatory authority in the Province of Quebec.
“It is not appropriate for us to provide any further details at this time.”
Canaccord Genuity and Manulife Financial also announced that they are cooperating with the investigation, but did not make any further comment.
Amaya completed a $4.9bn takeover of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker parent company Rational Group in August.
Amaya figures released in November for Q3 showed a more than six-fold revenue increase to C$239m, while the company’s shares have rocketed 340% in 2014.
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