The founder and former chief executive of online gaming firm Amaya Inc. has made a takeover offer for the company that values it at about $3.48 billion.
David Baazov, who resigned from the company in August, is leading a group of investors that has offered $24 per share for the company.
Amaya shares closed at $18.34 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday.
Baazov already holds a 17.2 per cent stake in Amaya including more than 24.5 million shares and options that entitle him to acquire 387,500 more.
The takeover offers follows by comments by Baazov in February that he was interested in buying out the other shareholders.
Since then, Baazov has been charged with five offences including communicating privileged information and attempting to influence the market price of Amaya stock. He has pleaded not guilty.
In connection with his takeover offer, Baazov said he has signed binding commitment letters with several investors totalling $3.65 billion to acquire Amaya.
Amaya announced last month that its special committee of independent directors completed review of its strategic alternatives and decided that it would remain an independent publicly traded company.
The company had held talks with British betting company William Hill PLC regarding a potential merger, but ended the discussions without a deal.
Amaya, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported Monday that it earned nearly $12.7 million attributable to shareholders or six cents per share. That compared with a profit attributable to shareholders of US$29.1 million or 15 cents per share a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled US$270.8 million, up from $247.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, the company said it earned US$85 million or 42 cents per share, up from US$69 million or 35 cents per share a year ago.
In its outlook, the company said it expected revenue for 2016 to come in at between $1.137 billion and $1.157 billion compared with earlier expectations for between $1.127 billion and $1.157 billion.
The company's forecast for adjusted net earnings was also updated to between $344 million and $354 million compared with its earlier outlook for between $332 to $352 million.