Amaya to spin off Diamond Game lottery division, welcomes Quebec licensing plans

Canada’s Amaya Gaming has taken the first step in its plan to divest itself of its B2B assets by spinning off its Diamond Game lottery division.

Amaya acquired the Los Angeles-based Diamond Game Enterprises – which operates 2,100 instant ticket vending machines in 15 jurisdictions in North America – in 2013 for $25m. On Thursday, Amaya announced it would spin off Diamond Game via a public float on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Amaya has created a new division, Innova Gaming Group, that will hold all shares in Diamond Game. Amaya declined to offer expectations for how much money it intends to gain via the initial public offering. Whatever sum it raises, Amaya plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt and/or repurchase its own shares.

Meanwhile, Amaya has issued a statement addressing the province of Quebec’s plans to introduce some form of licensing regime for private online gambling operators. The plans, outlined in Quebec’s 2015-16 budget statement, also call for internet service providers to IP-block other “illegal” gambling sites so as to boost the fortunes of Loto-Quebec’s online site Espace-jeux.