RIVAL AMAYA Gaming is offering €25 million to buy out Irish online gambling specialist Cryptologic.

Amaya already holds a seven per cent stake in Cryptologic, which it built up through a series of share purchases this year. Yesterday it announced it has agreed a preliminary cash offer with the Irish company’s board of $2.50 (€1.92) a share for the outstanding 93 per cent.

The offer represents a premium of 52 per cent over Cryptologic’s $1.64 closing price on New York’s Nadsdaq exchange on Wednesday.

It values Cryptologic at a total of $34.5 million, while purchasing the outstanding 93 per cent of the company will cost Amaya just over $32 million, or close to €25 million.

Both parties yesterday stressed that the offer is preliminary and is subject to preconditions, including the unanimous support of the Cryptologic board and confirmation by Amaya that it has the resources to complete the offer.

Takeover rules require Amaya to announce by 5pm on January 12th that it either intends to make a firm offer for the company or that it does not intend to make an offer for Cryptologic.

On the basis of the preliminary offer, the Irish company’s board has agreed to allow Amaya to carry out due diligence of Cryptologic. Amaya also reserves the right to vary the offer’s terms or reduce the amount of the offer.

Amaya itself is in the process of being sold to Canadian investment bank Canaccord for €15 million through the exchange of a series of Canadian dollar-denominated warrants.

Cryptologic develops superhero and movie-themed slot machine-style and casino games and licences them to other operators such as Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and Betfair. It employs 24 people in Dublin, mainly in corporate HQ roles. It has staff in centres in Canada and Malta involved in software development.

Last August, it reported that it made profits of $500,000 in the second half of this year, the first such surplus it recorded since 2008.