Stars "misses deadline" for Atlantic Club acquisition
Agreement had required operator to secure New Jersey licence by end of last month, according to reports
PokerStars’ agreement to acquire New Jersey casino Atlantic Club is under threat due to the operator’s wait to secure an egaming licence in the Garden State, according to reports.
The Wall Street Journal reports the initial deal between the Isle of Man-licensed operator and Atlantic Club parent Colony Capital stipulated a 30 April deadline for Stars to be licensed in New Jersey in order for the acquisition to proceed. With the deadline passing, the agreement has “expired”.
Stars’ talks to acquire the casino date back to last year, with the acquisition agreement confirmed in January, however the operator only completed its application for a New Jersey licence. In March this year New Jersey authorities suggested a decision the licence application was unlikely to arrive before “late summer”.
Following Governor Christie’s passage of Senator Raymond Lesniak’s egaming bill – after an initial conditional veto – Stars’ potential re-entry into the United States has come under scrutiny from rival operators and lobby groups.
In March this year lobby group the American Gaming Association called upon New Jersey authorities to block the return of an operator which it claimed has a “history” of “systematically flouting US law”. Its calls came despite last year’s settlement with the United States Department of Justice allowing Stars to return to markets within the US where regulation permitted, and despite the settlement containing no admission of wrongdoing.
Stars responded to those claims, with a submission from legal representative Jeff Ifrah saying “For all of its lofty rhetoric, the only interest the AGA actually has in this proceeding derives from the fact that some of its members perceive themselves to be Rational’s competitors”.
A PokerStars representative could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.