Hans Pandeya, Chief executive officer of Global Gaming Factory X--the company seeking to takeover The Pirate Bay and now deep in controversy--says he has revealed the list of his financial backers to The Los Angeles Times.
Pandeya declared this Friday after Swedish stock exchange AktieTorget stopped trading in Global Gaming's shares when it did not receive all the information it requested about the company's financial position, according to news reports in Swedish newspaper SvD. Separately, SvD reported that Swedish authorities have launched a criminal probe into potential insider dealing related to an mysterious jump in Global Gaming's share price a week before the firm proclaimed its intention to buy The Pirate Bay. There are also uncertainties about the financial status of both Pandeya and Global Gaming, who is the company's largest stockholder. Both he and the company are grappling with debt, former Global Gaming CTO Johan Sellstrom told CNET News.
Ever since his announcement on his company's acquisition plan, Pandeya has refused to provide the lists of his investors, who he has mentioned will put up 60 million Swedish Kroner, or about $8.5 million, to fund the merger.
The news that has surfaced in the past week has called Pandeya's credibleness into doubt.
However in a lengthy e-mail exchange with CNET News on Friday, Pandeya said that other than turning over investors' lists to officials from the stock market, he has also given the names to Ben Fritz, a media newsman with the LA Times.
"I put The Los Angeles Times in touch with one of them who confirmed the investment," Pandeya wrote. "I also provided (Fritz) with the name of the investment bank that is overseeing the investors provided they did not divulge this. So, the DD (Pandeya presumably means "due diligence") construing this has been done. Now, the stock market required the names...and I revealed the name of the investment banking company (that) confirmed that the money was in place. Now, The Swedish stock market and Ben Fritz know the identity of the investment bank (besides the investors and us)."
AktieTorget wrote online that they did speak with someone claiming to be an investor. Officials, however, wanted more certification and it was unavailable Friday. AktieTorget won't allow trading to resume in Global Gaming until it receives more evidence that Global Gaming possesses enough money to complete the acquisition.
In a phone interview, Fritz declined to comment and would only refer to a July 31 story he co-wrote about Global Gaming with Times newsperson Dawn Chmielewski titled "Pirate Bay deal surrounded by Hollywood-style headaches."
The report mentions that Global Gaming "has commitments from more than 30 private investors to provide the approximately $4 million cash portion of (The Pirate Bay) acquisition." The newspaper account does not cite its source for this information nor does it note anywhere that the newsmen spoke to any of the company's financial backers.
A review of Latimes.com did not turn up any other stories by Fritz about Global Gaming or The Pirate Bay.
I asked Pandeya for the names of the investors under similar conditions he offered to Fritz, and I promised not to write about them until after Thursday. That's the day he has said The Pirate Bay acquisition will be done.
"We agreed to keep their names secret until after the acquisition because they are confused and strongly afraid of the blasting I have got in media," Pandeya wrote. "I am concerned that they will back out if journalists start scrutinizing them."
But if this is the situation, then why would he give the names to Fritz? Why wouldn't Fritz press in on the dispute if he had this info? There are lots of questions still unanswered about Global Gaming.
Still, nary of the motions is bigger than this one: what will become of The Pirate Bay if the acquisition falls through?
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