The board of directors for American digital entertainments firm Allied Esports International Incorporated has announced its approval of a proposal that would see Bally’s Corporation purchase all of its poker-related operations.

The California-based firm used an official Tuesday press release to explain that the envisioned deal could involve the American casino operator paying up to $90 million in cash so as to acquire all of the equity in its Club Services Incorporated subsidiary. The company detailed that this subordinate is responsible for the entirety of its poker operations including the prestigious World Poker Tour (WPT) gaming and entertainments brand.

Initial interest:

Allied Esports International Incorporated has owned the iconic WPT brand since June of 2015 but earlier divulged that it was considering a sale so as to completely exit the poker and eSports verticals. The Irvine-headquartered enterprise later heralded a provisional performance-related agreement that was to have seen a newly-established entity known as Element Partners LLC pay up to $78.25 million over the course of the next three years in order to take over the running of the internationally-recognized tournament organizer established by American attorney and television producer Steven Lipscomb almost 20 years ago.

Definitive deadline:

However, the board of Nasdaq-listed Allied Esports International Incorporated has now proclaimed that the offer from Bally’s Corporation constitutes a ‘superior proposal’ when compared with the proposition from Element Partners LLC’. As such and the body moreover stated that it will be terminating the earlier arrangement on Friday unless the bidder ‘negotiates an amendment to its pending stock purchase agreement’ to make it the loftier of the two submissions.

Read a statement from Allied Esports International Incorporated…

“There can be no assurance that the company will enter into a definitive agreement with Bally’s Corporation or consummate any transaction with Bally’s Corporation.”

Enlarging enterprise:

Previously known as Twin River Worldwide Holdings Incorporated until undergoing a name-change late last year, Rhode Island-based Bally’s Corporation is responsible for eleven land-based American casinos including the giant Bally’s Atlantic City and Eldorado Resort Casino Shreveport properties. The New York-listed operator has been on something of a buying spree of late after agreeing deals to acquire daily fantasy sports firm Monkey Knife Fight, online free-play games developer SportCaller and digital technology and services enterprise Bet.Works Corporation.

Virginia victory:

The latest proposal from Bally’s Corporation furthermore comes at the same time as the company has been granted a temporary license to provide online sportsbetting services to punters in Virginia. The operator used a Tuesday press release of its own to divulge that this authorization will allow it to enter a 13th American state to further showcase the abilities of its sports wagering platform, ‘augment its player database’ via the addition of local sports wagering aficionados and ‘contribute to the company’s goal of becoming the leader in the United States sportsbetting market.’