BREAKING: GBT and DOJ Strike Deal, FTP Sale Pending

[grimReaper]

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

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:P 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.

[purplechip1]

awesome .

[grimReaper]

"Laurent Tapie Expects to Finalize Full Tilt Deal in the Next 15 Days"

http://pokerfuse.com/news/poker-room...-next-15-days/

[grimReaper]

Looks like we're almost there...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Groupe...3.html?x=0&l=1

Editors: THIS STORY IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL ERICA GETS THE CLEAR FROM THE LAWYER AT GROUPE BERNARD TAPIE
The French investment firm Groupe Bernard Tapie has signed a deal to buy Full Tilt Poker, the online gambling site that was shut down by the federal government for allegedly operating a Ponzi scheme.
GBT has agreed to acquire Full Tilt Poker for $80 million, in a deal that was brokered by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to TK. As part of the deal, Full Tilt Poker had to agree to forfeit its assets to the U.S. government, which then sold the assets to the GBT.
Full Tilt Poker owed as much as $390 million to international players who had gambling accounts with the company when it was shut down by federal authorities in August. About half of those losses are held by players in the U.S.
As part of the deal, the French firm will take responsibility for the burned players outside the U.S., while the Department of Justice will facilitate paybacks to the American gamblers who lost about $150 million. American players will have to apply to the DOJ for compensation.
The federal government has seized the Full Tilt Poker site, which is currently embossed with the seals of the DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The government plans to dismiss the civil forfeiture proceedings. This will have no impact on individual proceedings, but it removes a potential liability for shareholders, as it removes all pending proceeding against Full Tilt.

[travz21]

Odds that the government takes taxes from the $150 million before they pay out? Or some handlers fee? 2:1 sounds about right.

[frob23]

The big questions become, "How will the DOJ know the appropriate amount to pay out to each player?" Are they going to accept our statement of our balances or will we need to show proof. I don't know that I have adequate proof of my balance on FTP at the time of the shutdown. I should but I looked this morning and can't find anything (thought I had a screenshot). I suppose I could try and use PT3 data but that will not really be accurate because of player transfers (I started my FTP play by exchanging money with someone across sites) or rakeback.

And I guess we're not going to get compensated for our FTP points at all. That sucks because it was another 5-10% in value on top of my balance.

At this point, I don't remember exactly what my balance was anymore. Just roughly where it was.

Edit: I am able to run some rough calculations and I get $944.46 as a likely balance that I could demonstrate. But that doesn't include the starting balance (from the initial transfer) and it doesn't seem exactly right. I might just go with that or something close to it if I have to guess at a number in the end though.

[grimReaper]

Are they going to accept our statement of our balances or will we need to show proof. I don't know that I have adequate proof of my balance on FTP at the time of the shutdown.

Highly doubt it.

Even if they required proof, in what form? A screenshot? That's not proof, anyone can photoshop that.

On a side note, how do people not know how much they had on the site? Don't people keep excel sheets that state how much money they had on each site?

[grimReaper]

I contacted Jeff Ifrah a few nights ago for some updates. Here's the discussion:



I asked:

I was wondering if there were any recent updates you could provide about the FT deal and repayment of US players. Do you have an estimate to when the DoJ will issue American payments and the likelihood it will be a full payment?

His response:

Right now the focus is on completing the agreement between Tapie and FTP and obtaining any necessary approvals for that agreement. This will be done in my opinion in a week. The next and last step is the agreement between FTP and DoJ and that agreement will help me answer your question on repayment of the US players. I don’t think discussions between those two parties will start until next week. Does that help?

I pressed:

Thanks for fast response, anything you can communicate is helpful!

You didn't say anything about the likelihood concerning a full repayment of American funds. Is that because it's too early to say for sure, or because it's not looking favorable? I'm open to any of your views and estimates, favorable or pessimistic. I'm not using them to bet or hedge my balance and won't hold anything against you, I'm merely interested in reality.

His response:

Only DoJ can answer that question and what they have said so far is that victims can apply to a fund. That is not enough detail for me. So it is not about being pessimistic, it is just that we haven't started exploring the open questions yet with DoJ. But we will. In part because no member is interested in being sued by customers who have not been paid back by DOJ. Make sense?

[grimReaper]

Things are definitely looking up:
FTP and GBT Agree on Assets; DOJ Next in Queue

[johan75]

Hello,

Poker can be rough-hewn or polished.... But at this condition government takes Texes on every million money betting....

[allena]

Hello,

The condition of Taxes is correct and good decision....