Tapie Deal to Acquire FTP for $80 Million

via PokerNews:

On Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, news broke that a signed deal had been reached to allow Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) to buy Full Tilt Poker (FTP) for $80 million. According to Yahoo Finance, the United States Department of Justice brokered a deal that saw FTP forfeit its assets to the U.S. government, who then sold the assets to the French investment firm.

The deal, which needs to be approved by a two-thirds vote by FTP shareholders, also states that GBT will be responsible for paying back players outside the United States, and the Department of Justice will pay back players in the U.S., who are owed approximately $150 million. Specifics are not known, but U.S. players will have to apply for compensation through the DOJ.

Finally, the DOJ has agreed to dismiss the civil forfeiture proceedings against FTP, which removes liability for the company's shareholders; however, it will not impact the individual proceedings against those individuals named in the indictments like Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Ray Bitar.

According to Poker Player Newspaper, Wendeen Eolis, CEO of EOLIS Intl Group, spoke with Benham Dayanim, counsel for GBT, who confirmed the deal: “The next step is to obtain an agreement from the Full Tilt Companies. I anticipate it will happen. It allows for players to be repaid, and resolves the FTP forfeiture action by the Government.”

The deal also states that current FTP directors cannot hold shares in the company.

PokerNews contacted the DOJ and were told: “We have no comment and are not confirming or denying an agreement.”