Former Amaya Gaming CEO David Baazov has donned his Grinch hat after abandoning his latest attempt to acquire the company and take it private.

On Tuesday, Baazov released a statement saying he’d decided to “terminate my attempted acquisition of Amaya” based on “certain shareholders” demanding a share price premium that “exceeded the price at which my investors and I would be willing to complete a transaction.”

Baazov had been offering $24 per share to acquire Amaya, an improvement over the $21 he’d offered in his original bid in February. But activist investor Jason Ader, whose SpringOwl Asset Management held a 2% stake in Amaya, urged Amaya’s board to reject Baazov’s “self-interested, unsubstantiated potential transaction” and to cut all ties with their “discredited former executive.”

Baazov said the decision to walk away – for the second time this year – was “not a decision I took lightly,” but consultations with his advisors determined that it was “the best course of action.” Amaya released a brief statement confirming the termination of its discussions with Baazov.