GGF Plans To Buy and Legalize Demonoid
Global Gaming Factory’s planned acquisition of The Pirate Bay last summer surprised BitTorrent’s friends and foes alike. Eventually the deal didn’t go through due to financial problems, but after a few months of silence the company’s CEO returns to the stage. This time around there’s a new target for his ambitious plans, Demonoid, the largest semi-private BitTorrent community.
When Global Gaming Factory (GGF) announced that it would take over The Pirate Bay, the company bombarded the press with optimistic plans which indicated the site would become the largest online media store. The attention later shifted to the troublesome financial position of its CEO, but all along the company had confidence in its plans for the new and ‘legal’ Pirate Bay.
A few months after the announcement the deal eventually bounced. Although GGF’s shareholders agreed to the acquisition, the company failed to come up with the required $7.8m (SEK 60 million). What followed was mostly silence and the deadline for the acquisition eventually passed without an official response from the company.
Many thought that the company had abandoned its BitTorrent plans for good, but behind the scenes it was preparing for a second shockwave. In the last month GGF CEO Hans Pandeya has been continuing his plans to acquire one or more torrent sites to start an industry approved entertainment platform. One of the prime targets for a takeover at the moment is the popular BitTorrent site Demonoid, but other sites have been approached as well.
“I have finally managed to get some funds in place and want to acquire Demonoid and some other sites to execute my plans,” Pandeya told TorrentFreak. “I lost a year and a fortune due to Aktietorget’s [the equity marketplace] acrobatics during my attempt to acquire The Pirate Bay in 2009 but I think it is still not too late to acquire and convert torrent sites.”
Whether Demonoid is open for an acquisition by GGF remains to be seen. The site’s owner has not commented on the proposal yet but Pandeya hopes there will be a favorable response to his plans.
It has never been a secret that GGF was interested in buying more than one torrent site to build its entertainment empire. Last year, when all eyes were pointed at GGF’s takeover of The Pirate Bay, the company also put in a 20 million euro behind-the-scenes offer for fellow BitTorrent site Mininova. Even today, Pandeya is still interested in reactivating the deal with The Pirate Bay.
“The Pirate Bay and Isohunt are on my Most Wanted list of course but I have to take one step at a time. I hope it is going to work this time. There is a positive attitude towards out-of-the-box thinking in the US which seems to be essential for this project so keep your fingers crossed.”
It is questionable how realistic Pandeya’s most wanted list is in terms of takeover potential. TorrentFreak contacted representatives of The Pirate Bay and isoHunt who both assured us that they are not interested in a deal with GGF at the moment, not least because they doubt Pandeya actually has any money to splash around.
The owner of Demonoid, the prime target of GGF at the moment, was contacted for a comment but we haven’t heard back at the time of publication. Despite all the skepticism, Pandeya firmly believes in his plans to transform torrent sites into ‘legal’ music and movie stores, and there is little doubt that this won’t be the last we hear of it.
“My plan is doable,” Pandeya said.
Update: Demonoid’s owner got back to us. We were told that he has no intention to sell the site to Global Gaming Factory. This means that Pandeya has to find another candidate to carry out his plans. Demonoid will remain as it is.
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