Jason Ader urges Amaya to move on from Baazov

Activist investor Jason Ader has written to the Amaya board, urging it to dismiss David Baazov’s current bid to buy the company and to “move on” from the former chief executive.

Ader, who helped push through bwin.party’s sale to GVC in 2015, said Baazov’s bid undervalued Amaya and the company would be better served sticking with its strategic initiatives.

The letter, sent officially from Ader’s asset management firm SpringOwl, called the bid “a continued attempt by a discredited former executive to capitalize on the Amaya situation at other shareholders’ expense”.

Earlier this week, Ader told Bloomberg he owned around 2% of Amaya, having doubled his stake in the last year, and sources with knowledge of the Baazov negotiations said the letter could be an attempt to drive the offer higher than its current $24 a share valuation.

The source confirmed Baazov would likely have to increase his bid to get the deal done, but that the Amaya board was confident the offer was legitimately funded.

The Baazov bid is being backed by two Hong Kong funds – Head and Shoulders Global Investment Fund SPC and Goldenway Capital SPC – who agreed to increase their stakes in the deal, after other co-investors dropped out.

Amaya said in an emailed statement: “We have received a letter from SpringOwl Asset Management LLC, an Amaya shareholder, and will continue to engage constructively with SpringOwl. The Board and management welcome input from all of our shareholders and look forward to continuing to actively engage with them.”

The source also played down the negative impact of the letter on negotiations, pointing out that SpringOwl is a relatively minor owner of shares compared to Baazov himself and funds like Blackrock and Blackstone.

A Baazov spokesperson said: “Mr. Baazov stands behind his offer and intends to continue engaging constructively with Amaya towards a board supported transaction.”