Amaya Gaming, PokerStars' parent company, has announced its plan to rebrand to "The Stars Group Inc, due to a very successful first quarter of 2017. It has also announced their intention to relocate to Toronto from Montreal. Both of these decisions shall be subject to shareholders' approval next month.
These decisions have come to light as the group declared revenues in the first quarter of 2017,[...] Read more » Amaya Inc. to rebrand as “The Stars Group Inc.”
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 7371
Amaya is the biggest name in the poker gaming world and the amounts of money being gambled on their sites is astronomical. It is nice to see that Poker is still thriving and long may it continue to do so
Joined: Aug '10
Location: Germany
Age: 52 (M)
Posts: 2219
Ok Amaya changing the name and replaced their headquarter, but what is the different for the poker community? Stars is the biggest name in the poker business and everybody know that. And that the sport betting and casino games risen up to 27 percent was verry interesting, but poker was the no. 1
Joined: Oct '13
Location: Canada
Age: 60 (F)
Posts: 324
The release above probably came directly from Amaya's marketing division. Below is a news article written in a major Toronto newspaper. Slightly different spin from their marketing machine.
Either way looks like more belt tightening and less for free for PokerStars players, while attempting to increase value for Amaya shareholders.
Toronto Star13 May 2017SANDRINE RASTELLO BLOOMBERG
MONTREAL— PokerStars owner Amaya Inc. is renaming itself The Stars Group Inc. and relocating to Toronto, part of CEO Rafi Ashkenazi’s efforts to transform the online gambling company after a difficult period.
Promoted after founder David Baazov stepped down amid insider trading charges and poor earnings performance, Ashkenazi is working to pay down debt, install a new management team and lessen the company’s exposure to the unstable online-poker business. Amaya just hired an industry veteran from William Hill Plc to focus on mergers and acquisitions, which Ashkenazi has said could play a central role in the second half of the year.
Deals could help Amaya diversify beyond poker, which made up 69 per cent of the company’s total revenue in the first quarter, compared with 75 per cent a year earlier. In a sign Ashkenazi’s efforts may be working, online casino games and sportsbook accounted for 27 per cent of sales, up from 21 per cent.
The company also managed to post its first increase in revenue from poker in three quarters, fuelling earnings that topped analysts’ estimates.
Amaya will seek shareholder approval for the name change at its annual meeting, according to a statement Friday. The company is currently based outside Montreal.
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
Age: 47 (F)
Posts: 14136
Almost 320 millions for first quarter. Not bad And that is why all site, that didnt have before, have added casino and sports betting. I would never expect that from the revenues they had, only the 69% was from poker. And while it was less from last year, in total they had an increase in revenue.
Joined: May '08
Location: Lithuania
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 10090
"Amaya Gaming, PokerStars' parent company, has announced its plan to rebrand to "The Stars Group Inc, due to a very successful first quarter of 2017." - so if i understood this right the sole reason for the rebrand was successful 1st quarter, no other reasons needed, therefore if next year they have a successful 1st quarter again, we should expect another rebrand.
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Posted by 3pokeronly: I am going to re-brand meself, 4P.
Thoughts?
nah, better take microsoft's approach with windows os and skip a number or two- 5P, maybe even 69P
