Industry Reports

Canadian Gambling Company the Stars Group Has Its Fingers Deep in PokerNews’ Equity Pie

At a company conference, the global gambling media publisher iBus Media Group, better known as PokerNews announced that it is to consider acquisition opportunities, encouraged by the company’s considerable increase over the recent years. In wake of acquisition strategy, media rumors regarding the company’s owners have started to swirl some time ago. According to the latest updates, the Canadian gambling giant The Stars Group (formerly known as Amaya) owns a large majority of iBus Media.

The financial picture, which iBus Media Group presented on PokerNews earlier today, outlined a pretty bright future for the company’s development. Riding an economic upswing, the company announced that it is to pursue new acquisition opportunities in order to further stimulate its prosperity. It is a widespread fact that to control a media is a powerful weapon, which can be also used for commercial purposes. But the Stars Group seems to be aware of this fact. iBus Media approved the rumors that the Stars Group owns a big part of the media. According to industry insiders, this is to benefit both parties, as the two companies are equally reputable in their sectors.

The company took the opportunity to announce that despite the change of powers, the way the business is managed will remain the same. iBus Media Director Jon Squires commented that PokerNews has always covered the latest events in the most accurate way and that practice will remain intact. He added that the company will only expand its reach and speed up its growth. iBus Media admitted that it has established good relationships with the Stars Group years ago.

More about the Links Between the Two Companies

As it can be recalled, PokerNews was established in 2002 by Tony G (Antanas Guoga). He bought the domain name for $6,000. In the recent years, PokerNews appeared on the global gambling scene as a leading media agency. By joining forces with it, the Stars Group is to secure branding exposure around the world. Earlier today, PokerNews approved that Tony G has started to sell his equity to the Stars Group in 2010. The company shared that the Stars Group’s online brands account for 5% of iBus’s affiliate revenues.

Earlier this year, the Stars Group announced that it is to embark on an acquisition hunt. Here, it is interesting to note that the Stars Group has already established itself as the leader in the online poker space. It owns some of the most reputable online brands, including PokerStars, PokerStars Casino, BetStars and Full Tilt Poker. Pairing with a media that covers latest poker news and promote the game will only enhance the company’s performance on the market.