The Bernard Tapie Group, Full Tilt Poker and U.S. Department of Justice have finally come to an official agreement on the acquisition of the online poker site. In what was months of heated discussion, the Bernard Tapie Group has acquired Full Tilt Poker for $80 million.
In agreeance with the brokerage, Full Tilt Poker was required to remit all of its current assets to the Department of Justice, who then was held responsible in transferring those funds to the hands of the BTG.
Concerning the process of paying back players of Full Tilt Poker, the DOJ is being held accountable to the repayment of U.S. players, while the Bernard Tapie Group is in control of re-issuing deposits from international locations.
Following through on a report that was released from Laurent Tapie, Bernard Tapie son’s in early November, the BTG finally signed an agreement with FTP that will allow the European financial investor to takeover the reins of the software. The Tapie Group was quoted as hoping to have the site completely up and running again by the beginning of 2012.
This is a dramatic turnaround from the events of just a few months back, as Full Tilt Poker was deemed a “ponzi scheme” that purported millions of dollars were continuously syphoned between players and owners that saw very little residual cash flow in terms of liquidity.
Players and shareholders such as Howard Lederer, Ray Bitar and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson were all labeled as conspirators, although it should be stated that this matter has been cleared up and there will be no further prosecution to any of the parties that were previously indicted.
Ferguson has since requested the reestablishment of bank accounts that were previously seized on behalf of his alleged connection and involvement in the “ponzi scheme”, and has stated the release of them can be beneficial in the return of player funds.
FTP co-founder Ray Bitar also released a statement after the company was recently bought:
“Full Tilt Poker is pleased that the terms of the agreement between Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) and the Department of Justice have been finalized, and that the agreement provides for GBT to repay or make whole players outside of the United States and for the Department of Justice to permit United States players to request compensation out of the forfeited funds. Since Black Friday, repaying customers has been FTP’s number one priority.”
“I am extremely pleased with the efforts of the Department of Justice, and the Groupe Bernard Tapie corporation, and appreciate their continued dedication in working towards a mutually beneficial agreement that will facilitate repayment of the players.”
“Now that the agreement with DOJ has been reached, GBT and Full Tilt poker will now turn to memorializing the final terms of their agreement, to bring this matter to a complete resolution as soon as possible.”
“Full Tilt Poker would like to thank all its customers for their continued patience since Black Friday and during this negotiation process.”
We’ll bring you more information in regards to the return of Full Tilt Poker as soon as it arrives.
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